Talk:Philip Morris International/Archives/2015

Surprising to See

Philip Morris has the highest profit margin of any big cigarette company [1], over 27%. That's very impressive, surpassing most multinationals, except for some pharmaceutical giants [2]. Like everything else about the tobacco industry, the last fact is ironic.

It's almost trivial to reference the deaths Philip Morris causes. According to its own website, PM has "15.6% share of the total international cigarette market outside of the United States" [3]. Smoking worldwide causes more than six million annual deaths, with 480,000 in the US. So outside of the United States, smoking causes at least 5.5 million deaths. [4] 15.6% of 5.5 million is 858,000, the Philip Morris share. According to Time magazine, developed country insurance regulations value a human life at $50,000. [5] So Philip Morris caused about $43 billion in deaths. Meanwhile, its 2014 annual before tax income was $10.65 billion [6].

This is a moral and ethical dilemma that requires attention. It's surprising that it's not in the article. Autos cause deaths, for example, but they earn investors much more money than they cost in deaths. At some fundamental level, it seems there is an ethical standard to apply. Auto accidents kill around 33,000 US people a year. 10% or less are from auto malfunctions, so the industry can be said to cost 3,300 x 50,000 = $165 Million per year. [7] If the auto industry consistently cost more in deaths than it earned in profits, it would be driven out of business (literally, as well as figuratively.) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.80.117.214 (talk) 16:49, 27 May 2015 (UTC)