Deutsche Bank AG - Historische Gesellschaft der Deutschen Bank e.V.

of market forces and technical possibilitles, this
should reduce the responsibility of the state vis-a-
vis the sum total of ethlcally-oriented entrepre-
neurlal behaviour to setting qualitative ecological
targets, to sa ying "what" rather than 'how':
Here, the discussion o f en vironment taxes to re-
placc for technical norms and restrictions, the use
ofprices as a mcans to steer environmental lnput -
be it in the productlon process or in passenger
transport - can find market-orlented guidelines.
Responslble politicians postulate the need to re-
structure ourentire taxsystem awa y from a regimc
that levies to one that steers in order to transform
the market economy from a "throw-awa y society"
that wastes resources into an ecologically oriented
society tha t conserves."' The complexity o f this
undertaking requires the formative participa -
tion of enterprlse - we shall all have to live with the
rcsult.
The call for less state lnterference has not lost its
importance in thc context of the ecologlcal crlsis,
but its realization requires entrepreneurs to take
part not for reasons o f group egoism, but in a spirit
of ethical responsibility The environmental crlsis
shows how right the intellectual fathers of the mar-
ket economy were who expected "ultimate im-
portant decisions"in the general interest "outside
the market, beyund supply and demand " from the
"weight of the voices that have authority ': Even
radical liberal standpoints such as Milton Frled-
man 3, which invite mlsundcrstanding, to the ef-
fect that business should be concernedsolely with
the permanent maximization o f pro fits, ultlmately
only lead to the Same result - based on the posi-
tive long-term self-interest of the entrepreneu
This standpolnt also produces criteria for as-
sessing cost and competltive disadvantages due
to expenses for en vironmental lnput. But a look at
the past reveals these criteria, too: the abolition of
child labour - at the time dcspite the Protests o f
en trepreneurs - and the in troduction o f exemplary
welfare benefits did not weaken the leadlng role of
German industry on the world market in the 79th
cen turK but set international standards which
others followed '" Capital in vestment in en vlron-
mental protection also sets standards, being in -
vestment in an improved future quality of life,
which enhance the quality of an lndustrial and
comrnercial location in international competltlon
and will therefore be followedby others. In contrast
to the 19th centuty howevel: this will Lake place
much faster and in much shorter periods ln thls
age of the information society
As they strive to improve the lot of thelrpeoples,
the hlqh-population countries o f the Third World -
China, lndia, Brazil, lndonesla - will not accept an y
restrictions whlch the industrial countries will de-
mand of them, e. g. to conservc the atmosphere.
But, as ln the past, they will want to obtain the latest
Western technologles that achieve this goal. Here
lies the opportunity for thcse countries to avoid
mlstakes made by the industrial nations in the
Course o f thelr development and to be introduced
rapidly to environment-orten red tcchnolog~
' ßierknkopf, 7eirsi1.jo~k: p. IZIi
H~iiikc, .lsr,.s6?irs von Anqrhnr und Nricl~fi~icjr: ~i 18.1
' Stcfcrlc. p 2.1