In my Economics 101 class, we have been taught the Supply and Demand relationship. When things are scarce, like during the aftermath of a natural disaster, the demand for these items rises while the supply decreases. The first question is whether or not a company should stay open or not. In my opinion, this is barely even debatable. If a business sells essential survival items such as food, clothing or flashlights, then it should stay open and for as long as possible. I would not debate whether a business should just give away their products for free, as that would be an unrealistic idea, and would have to depend on the individual business owners. Second, as to whether employees should be required to work, it should be determined by the level of risk involved with working and getting to work. If the business sells essential items and the risk factor is relatively low, then employees should be required to work. Otherwise, a store selling computers should not be forcing its employees to work if risk is involved. With the third question, I relate it back to my earlier point referring to essentials. Prices should not rise when it comes to essentials. Denying a poor family the ability to purchase food when food is already scarce is simply unethical. The profit that could potentially be gained does not surpass the basic human ethics that would be violated.
Works Cited
“Ethical obligations during natural disasters.” Business Ethics. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2012. <www.canadianbusiness.com/blog/business_ethics/104470–ethical-obligations-during-natural-disasters>.
“Sandy: East Coast braces for epic hurricane, life-threatening storm surge | The Lookout – Yahoo! News.” Yahoo! News – Latest News & Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2012. <http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/sandy-hurricane-east-coast-nyc-forecast-142549538.html>.
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