The Assault on Integrity Summary and Analysis

In this chapter, written by Alan Greenspan, the protection of the consumer is examined. Without some sort of protection, like the Pure Food and Drug Administration, the consumer would be at the mercy of the businessmen who would attempt to pass off unsafe food and products. Greenspan claims the best protection for the consumer is the profits of businessmen. Firms with reputations for being honest and producing good products do better than firms with bad reputations. Firms with bad products or reputations tend to drop in market value. Firms spend years building their reputation and they cannot afford to slip up because the public can turn against them very easily. The reputation of established firms is a force that newer firms have to contend with as they spend years trying to build their own reputation...