The founder of modern economics, Adam Smith, was no fan of the merchants of his time. He regarded them as among the most responsible for how “the mercantile system,” as Smith called it, accorded legal privileges to politically connected producers over the interests of consumers.
Almost 51 years ago, on September 13, 1970, Milton Friedman published an essay in The New York Times with a title that captured his thesis that “The Social Responsibility Of Business Is to Increase Its Profits.” This shareholder value maximization metric for evaluating the legal and financial fiduciary duties of corporate officers has served as the dominant paradigm for defining the purpose of the corporation both before and certainly for the fifty years after publication of Friedman’s influential essay.
Amid growing calls for divestment from several industries, Milton Friedman’s view on the role of business in politics bears repeating. Friedman explained that corporate executives are agents of the companies to which they are employed, acting on behalf of the company’s owners and tasked with the responsibility of increasing earnings.
