![](https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/shutterstock_704887150-e1601371825416.jpg)
By Binyamin Appelbaum, The New York Times
Liberals love to blame Milton Friedman for the misbehavior of American corporations.
Friedman, a free-market ideologue, published an essay 50 years ago this week in TheTimes Magazine in which he argued that corporations should not go beyond the letter of the law to combat discrimination or reduce pollution or maintain community institutions. Corporations, he said, have no social responsibilities except the sacred responsibility to make money.
The essay was a big hit with the executive class. Rich people were only too delighted to see selfishness portrayed as a principled stand. Friedman’s creed became the standard justification for corporate callousness. The Business Roundtable, a leading lobby for large companies, declared in 1997 that maximizing profit was the purpose of a corporation.
Critics have been fighting ever since to get corporations to acknowledge broader responsibilities.
It’s the wrong battle. Instead of redefining the role of the corporation, we need to redefine the role of the state.
Friedman’s essay was part of his broader campaign to revive faith in the power of markets. He and his intellectual allies argued that if corporations focused on making money, and government got out of the way, the economy would grow and everyone would benefit.
Featured News
Court Order Temporarily Halts U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Layoffs
Feb 16, 2025 by
CPI
Nokia Poised to Gain EU Approval for $2.3 Billion Infinera Acquisition
Feb 16, 2025 by
CPI
Turkey Fines Frito-Lay in Antitrust Crackdown
Feb 16, 2025 by
CPI
Advances Bill to Strengthen Antitrust Enforcement Through AI
Feb 16, 2025 by
CPI
Intel Faces Potential Breakup as Broadcom and TSMC Explore Deals
Feb 16, 2025 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – International Criminal Enforcement
Jan 23, 2025 by
CPI
The Antitrust Division’s Recent Work to Combat International Cartels
Jan 23, 2025 by
Emma Burnham & Benjamin Christenson
Information Sharing: The New Frontier of U.S. Antitrust Enforcement
Jan 23, 2025 by
Brian P. Quinn, Casey Kovarik & Michael Tubach
The Key Role of Guidelines on Exchanges of Information Among Competitors and the Divergent Transatlantic Paths
Jan 23, 2025 by
Rosa Abrantes-Metz & Albert Metz
Leniency, Whistleblowers, and Compliance
Jan 23, 2025 by
Richard Powers, Tara O’Malley & Cory Gordon