We decided to focus our efforts in creating Brightline on externalized corporate costs because of the enormous impact such activities have on society as a whole. From our ongoing perspective as shareholders, this seemed to us the one are where shareholder activism might have the greatest impact. It may be simplest to explain what we mean by this phrase, 'externalized corporate costs,' by citing a few obvious examples. When paper manufacturers lowered their costs by dumping effluent into our rivers and streams, which meant in turn that society as a whole was then forced to bear the high costs of clean-up, this was a classic example of externalized costs. When the tobacco companies chose to ignore or even conceal the public health costs related to cigarette smoking, this was yet another example of externalized costs.
Corporate welfare is another obvious form of externalization.
Without such subsidies the companies involved would be forced to raise prices, or internalized and report more accurately their actual costs. Generally accepted accounting practices do little to reveal externalized costs. It is a complex yet critical area of thought and study. We hope that our efforts with Brightline will provide a means for illumination and further consideration.