Offshore Drilling Ban to be Lifted by Bush

[Strangler Lewis]

Originally Posted by Alex

Come on, don't make me do your work for you.

The reason that corporations should be treated differently in charitable giving is that they are simply a channel by which wealth flows to individuals. Whether that is executives, employees, downstream suppliers, or stockholders.

Beyond certain minimums it is not reasonable to expect a corporation to place altruism and charity above its primary reason for existing. It falls to the individual recipients of that wealth to act humanely and engage in charity and service to their fellow man. Especially since, inherently, any charity performed by a corporation is just passed on to as increased cost to consumers or decreased wealth to individuals.

In, oh, the early 20th century, stockholders could sue to enjoin corporate charity as ultra vires and a waste of corporate assets and courts would side with them. Ultimately, courts came around to the view that corporate charity had a public relations component and so was a reasonable corporate expense.