Statement is too short term. There are also objectives around sustaining viability as a going concern and others that do counter short term profit max objectives. They do consider environmental impact and most certainly govern employees and the relationships.

Simple example. >Long term<, it benefits employers to keep and maintain a workforce with experience in >their< process and train them well. This is why you have corporate programs that cover college expenses for employees, and employees receive on the job training, etc. Is their a financial component to this, absolutely. Is it focussed on next months P&L, absolutely not. Would it be more profitable, short term, to eliminate these entirely, absolutely.

Full product costing from an eco-standpoint is a separate issue.

And leaving aside the question whether or not regulations have gone too far do take this off point quite substantially. Do I think we need a certain amount of regulation to ensure that companies operate responsibly towards workers and the environment, yes I do. I would also submit that most companies that have built offshore manufacturing have done so at standards that far exceed what local laws require, which would also be counter to your statement.