The Business Roundtable made a big splash in August by “modernizing its principles on the role of a corporation.” No longer stressing the unique importance of maximizing shareholder value, the organization got 181 CEOs to sign a statement outlining a corporate commitment to various “stakeholders,” of which shareholders are only one, listed alongside customers, employees, suppliers and communities.
Why did they sign? We see two possibilities. Either they are genuinely committed to lead in socially conscious business practices,...
opinion Doubt it.
opinion The data on Milton Friedman-esque Shareholder Value management shows recurring bubbles and recessions, wage stagnation, inequality and misery for workers both here and abroad etc so I’d say a SINCERE “stakeholder capitalism” approach would be an improvement