Is there a single word for "it's more profitable to do this thing, rather than the other thing, or nothing"? I think that's what this counts as.

I think this is in the same category of decision as retailers selling old stock at a loss, because that's better than not selling it.

A large portion of the modern economy is run by spreadsheets, and crunching the numbers on what the "most-profitable" thing to do often leads to companies doing what seems insane to the average person. P.S.: only the first 2/3rds of that was directed at your comment specifically.