
Milton Friedman Was Wrong - pseudolus
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/08/milton-friedman-shareholder-wrong/596545/
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seibelj
I would prefer that corporations do what they do best - make profits - and
leave the ancillary baggage we’ve put on them to the government or
individuals. Companies should not be providing health insurance and retirement
benefits, nor should they be intertwined with the government as always happens
in highly regulated “private” industries.

If we want to force corporations to be extensions of the government and
provide various non-essential services, then yes, they should care more about
non-profit motives. However this is a mistake and it makes a company do things
it shouldn’t do. I _wish_ companies could only focus on maximizing shareholder
value.

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rawTruthHurts
I wish companies could only focus on maximizing shareholder value while paying
the taxes for the public infrastructures they rely on, such as law, transport,
or education.

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coldtea
I wish companies should stop focusing on "maximizing shareholder value", and
instead returned just enough profits to keep them going, and focusing on
keeping customers happy.

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beatgammit
Why? Companies keep customers happy because of competition. You can't force
companies to make anyone happy, but you can set up a situation where making
customers happy if I'm their best interest.

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rdlecler1
This seems so basic Incant believe economists are even arguing this still.
Milton / argument is not dissimilar to a naive view of survival of the
fittest. Yet in nature, we have altruism. If you want to maximize shareholder
value you need to maximize stakeholder value. Just like in nature where being
as greedy as possibly does not always maximize fitness.

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rumanator
> Milton / argument is not dissimilar to a naive view of survival of the
> fittest. Yet in nature, we have altruism.

I don't understand the point you're trying to make. Altruism also contributes
to higher fitness because altruistic communities transfer surplus resources to
members in need, thus improving their odds to endure through hard times.

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rdlecler1
That is my point. But the simple minded view of evolution found altruism
challenging. I’m saying that increasing shareholder value is the simpleminded
equivalent, that we should be focused on stakeholder value.

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rumanator
I don't agree you have a point. You try to make a point and accuse it of being
naive, but once your point was totally refuted you still insist on it by
resorting to demeaning accusations such as "naive" and "simpleminded" even
though you acknowledge your accusations are baseless and wrong.

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zygimantasdev
Well, for me it seems two ideas are mixed up here. Non profits can do exactly
that - instead of focusing on profits they can maximize other "stakeholders".
Corporations with goal to maximize profits are not going away, because
investors will not invest into non profits expecting return on investment

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p_roz
Milton Friedman wasn’t wrong. It’s important to mention that he specifically
stated that businesses should operate within both legal and ethical norms.
Suggesting that unethical or illegal behavior is excused by his theory is
wrong.

In addition, businesses are only “islands of socialism” to the extent that it
increases profit. Ronald Coase’s ‘Theory of the Firm’ lays out the logic of
this arrangement. Business relationships are voluntary, and the threat of
monopoly is greatly exaggerated.

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tstyle
Scientist: "assuming a frictionless sphere in a vacuum... ...we can build a
limited but useful model"

Media: "Scientist was wrong because the world is not a vacuum"

~~~
krapp
Internet: "Earth has 4 corner simultaneous 4-day time cube within single
rotation. Wake up sheeple!"

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specialist
We're talking about this (again) because of Business Roundtable's updated
statement of purpose.

This history of Business Roundtable was illuminating to me:

[https://press.princeton.edu/titles/10135.html](https://press.princeton.edu/titles/10135.html)

Lobbying America The Politics of Business from Nixon to NAFTA

 _" Lobbying America tells the story of the political mobilization of American
business in the 1970s and 1980s. Benjamin Waterhouse traces the rise and
ultimate fragmentation of a broad-based effort to unify the business community
and promote a fiscally conservative, antiregulatory, and market-oriented
policy agenda to Congress and the country at large. Arguing that business's
political involvement was historically distinctive during this period,
Waterhouse illustrates the changing power and goals of America's top corporate
leaders."_

\--

I collect books about policy making (legislation) and stumbled upon this book.
What a find.

My TLDR: History of Business Roundtable is like the metamorphosis of the NRA.
Previously reasonable no controversy organization that was taken over by
radical ideologues and transmuted into something horrible.

Whereas many left wing skeptics ("snarkists") lampooned Business Roundtable's
recent change of heart, I'm far more charitable. We're all connected and need
to figure out some way to get along. So I'm glad for the effort.

Maybe I just need to find reasons to be optimistic.

