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@KStahl I'd say that perverse incentives and inappropriate use of metrics are both contributing factors. For instance, there are certainly examples of companies who have acted against their long term interest by enacting changes to their service that improved some metrics (e.g., their stock price) at the expense of other qualities, such as consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty, that are arguably of much higher long term value to the company even if they were working purely in their own self-interest. It is also true that this self-interest may also genuinely come in conflict with the interests of their customers (or the environment, etc.), especially with a badly designed incentive structure and regulatory system, but I view this as a somewhat orthogonal issue.