Let freedom reign
17 Nov 2004
Dave Wilson asks why price fixing, bribery, cartels and heavy fines have become so commonplace in today’s business environment.
‘Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today’ - Mahatma Gandhi.
It seemed like a good idea at the time, as all good idea do - at the time. The UN would allow the money from the sale of Iraqi oil to be used to provide food for the Iraqi people.
Unfortunately, it didn’t quite happen like that. Some of the money that should have been spent on feeding the people ended up in the hands of the previous Iraqi government to buy arms - all due to the kick back deals that were formed with the companies involved in the oil-for-food deals.
Sadly, such shenanigans must appear quite at odds with individuals living in the country in question. Why on one hand, one might ask, would companies operating out of certain nations actively support a previous leader via covert means in order that he could arm himself to the teeth, only for the governments of those nations to then declare war on his people for possessing them?
The answer, is of course, is money. Many companies will do just about anything these days to increase their bottom lines. One only has to look at the litany of stories that have appeared over the past few months to see how dishonest many have become. Even the big names you thought you could trust.
In October, for example, Bayer was fined $4.7 million for participating in a conspiracy to fix the prices of synthetic rubber after it had already paid a whopping $66 million fine in July relating to charges of alleged price fixing by its rubber chemicals business.
The same month, in fact, that US and UK arms of ABB subsidiary ABB Vetco Gray were charged with paying bribes to officials of NAPIMS, a Nigerian government agency that evaluates and approves potential bidders for contract work on oil exploration projects in Nigeria.
And let’s not forget Degussa UK Holdings. Why should we? It got fined $1.5 million for its participation in a criminal conspiracy that suppressed competition in the world markets for organic peroxides.
And while we are at it, what about the 222 million Euros that the EU fined Boliden, Halcor, HME, the UK-based IMI group, KME, Mueller Industries, Outokumpu and Wieland Werke for operating a 12-year cartel in the European market for copper water, heating and gas tubes?
So much, one might say, for the integrity of the companies working in the democracy of the free world!
Who are the companies involved in the ‘Iraqigate affair’ and to what extent did they participate in this new round of shady dealings? I’m sure we’ll all be horrified when we find out. But one thing’s clear, whoever participated in such schemes must be held accountable.
For one thing that is truly great about democracy is that individuals and the companies that they work for are free agents. Free to abide by the law, or free to break the law. But the rules are clear. If the rules are broken, a price must be paid.
Having said that, to impress those nations such as Iraq that have yet to experience the true benefits of democracy, maybe we ought to raise that price a little?
