<i>This is true only if corporate executives are amoral automatons running hill-climbing algorithms. Rather than, say, citizens who use logic to make responsible decisions not just for their short-term profits but for the long-term good of their community.</i><p>Well, the system we have now really encourages that short-term, profit-finding behavior for corporations and the people who make decisions in them.<p>Many of the side-effects are just not part of the accounting, and therefore are not important to investors.<p>Money, money, money.