"Matt Barrow" wrote in message
...

Care to define what you mean by "profiteering off Katrina"?

Not sure why this isn't obvious, but raising the cost of building materials,
transportation, water, food, etc. beyond that which will yield a reasonable
profit. Don't bother telling me about supply and demand - just because one
can get away with charging absurd prices in a crisis situation does not mean
it is ethical.


Anytime maximizing profits includes illegal behavior, as dramatically
evidenced by Enron, Adelphia, et al.

Well, yes, ouright theft is, I suppose, one form of profit maximization.
:~)

It is a huge form of profit maximization, as evidenced by the passage of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

But building a company that markets and distributes aviation data, and
then finding yourself in the enviable position of having very little
competition or sales limitations except market elasticity is obviously
not unethical.

As long as you have two parties _voluntarily_ (uncoerced by either one of
the parties) engaging in a transaction, it's ethical.

Too broad. By this definition drug dealing, prostitution and child porn are
all ethical business transactions. In fact, by this definition Enron and
Adelphia are excused as well. The transactions they completed were
completely voluntary. I'm a committed capitalist, but life, and business, is
full of ethical quandries and shades of grey.

Michael