WHITE COLLAR CRIME

How are corporate abuses of power, corporate fraud and corporate economic exploitation interrelated?
Which segments of society seem to bear the largest burden from these forms of corporate crime and which segments seem least vulnerable?
Which of these forms of corporate crime concern you most and which concern you least, and why?
Much corporate crime wreaks no violence but has vast political and economic consequences. In his landmark study of white collar crime, Sutherland (1949) focused almost entirely on corporate fraud that had economic rather than violent consequences.
These offenses included restraints of trade; rebates; patent, trademark, and copyright violations; misrepresentations in advertising; unfair labor practices; financial manipulations; and war crimes.
With respect to the last offense, Sutherland, writing during and immediately after World War II, examined illegal profiteering and violations of other laws (such as embargoes and restraints on trade of war materials) committed by corporations during the war. He concluded that for large corporations, profits took precedence over patriotism.
Corporate abuse of power in the form of corruption of the political process has economic consequences for ordinary citizens. Corporations obtain favorable treatment on such matters as reducing their tax liability and increasing their freedom to raise prices or underpay workers. Corporations also use their immense economic clout to distort the political process in a system that claims to be democratic, and as a consequence, much policy ends up favoring the interests of corporations over those of ordinary citizens.
Direct bribery of governmental officials (legislators, in particular) has long been a common practice of corporations (Miller, 1992; Noonan 1984). A great deal of corruption is less blatant; some takes the form of political