ABSTRACT
A very important reason why the resuscitation of the National Enterprise Board (NEB) in the United Kingdom or the creation of a similar agency in the United States is a very attractive ethical option is that agencies of this sort could facilitate co-operation among human beings, especially among some who previously have been wary of one another. Obviously, from the point of view of efficiency, co-operation is necessary ‘as a means of overcoming the limitations restricting what individuals can do’. There are arguments on behalf of the establishment of an NEB that have an ethical rather than an economic flavour. Several caveats must be added to any paean to co-operation. Even as fervent an advocate of working together as Peter Kropotkin admits that fighting among individuals and groups has played some role in the evolution of the human race.
