Corporation is an interesting way to think of future.
Human have limited life time. If a project lasts longer than a person's life time, how does a person conduct the project after he is dead? If a project is placed in a corporation, the project will continued with funding FOR the planned profit in future. Project can pass from generation to generation, from strangers to strangers. I believe, the modern corporation is the materialization of your concept “承擔未來七代子孫的責任”. In fact, it does not stop at any generation, but foreseeable future at the time. The concept is originally design to facilitate long and risky sailing trip that reaps profit only upon the ship’s return.
Condition change from time to time, planned event changes, a single human can be easily bias. By incorporating, people can vote with money. Do people believe the project have a good return in the future? Is there more urgent matter for the present? Is there new and better projects? Incorporating allow these factors to be automatically considered into the planning.
(A major problem of incorporation is stewardship. Management’s interest may not align with investors. This is the case of Enron, this is the case of the bank’s meltdown, etc)
Future contract, hedges is an interesting way to think of trust.
If I have a plan for the future, yet I am not sure of the exact result in the future, future contract and hedges will provide the trust I needed from my fellow humankind. They ensure that even if the result turns out to be horrible, I will not suffer the horrible end for trying. Stranger can trust each other without knowing each other.
(A major problem is the human nature to gamble with the future. This tool can also be abused to gamble.)
Insurance is an interesting way to show out human solidarity.
Whether bad fortune may fall onto anyone is an uncertainty. By having an insurance, everyone insured is banded together to withstand this uncertainty. The healthy insurer will pay for the sick insurer in a health insurance. The living insurer will pay for the dead insurer in a life insurance. The employed will be paying for the unemployed in an employment insurance. People can be stranger yet show solidarity with insurance.
(The same problem with stewardship. Another problem is known as moral hazard, that people intentionally taking more risk because of the insurance, just like an over-protected child.) |