1. The federal tax code is riddled with special-interest loopholes. Most of these exist because firms and trade associations lobby Congress and provide campaign support to members of Congress to gain special favors to individual firms or industries. Is it ethical for firms to seek special privilege? 

2. “Fair trade” goods have become popular, as some people are willing to pay more to know the goods come from workers paid a decent price for their efforts. However, some retailers who sell fair trade goods mark them up substantially more than nonfair trade goods. One study showed that coffee growers got an average of 44 cents a pound more for fair trade coffee, but the coffee at retail was marked up an additional $3.46 per pound. At one supermarket chain, fair trade bananas that cost an extra 3.6 cents per pound were marked up four times the price of non-fair trade bananas. Fair trade goods are claimed to be a form of social responsibility. Is that true if it just means higher profitmargins? 

3. A chemical company located a new plant in a depressed area with high unemployment in West Virginia. It built a state-of-the-art plant that had the latest pollution control technology meeting all EPA requirements. It created 2,500 jobs. The company was attacked for polluting a previously pristine area. Had the plant been built in an industrial area, such as the coast near Houston, no one would have been likely to complain. Was the company socially irresponsible for building the plant in such an area?

4. Discussion of ethics issues focuses on company examples. What personal ethics matter? Surveys indicate that many students have cheated in classes one way or another, pad their resumes when seeking jobs, and have improperly downloaded copyrighted music. Does ethics “begin at home”?