

Why corporations should stick to maximizing profit - yummyfajitas
http://www.professorbainbridge.com/professorbainbridgecom/2011/02/obama-preaches-the-false-religion-of-corporate-social-responsibility.html

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yummyfajitas
Please ignore the title/first paragraph, which are the only political points
in the article. That's just a jumping off point into an otherwise interesting
essay pushing the thesis that corporate "social responsibility" is a bad idea.

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toddh
Encouraging immoral corporate behaviour is really where you want to go?

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zdw
"The social obligation of business is to sustainably maximize long-term
profits for shareholders"

Exactly. Part of being sustainable, and doing it for the long term can involve
being socially responsible.

For example, a publisher might focus on literacy programs which would increase
the base of readers who could consume product in the future.

Secondarily:

"targeted legislative approaches are a preferable solution to the
externalities created by corporate conduct. "

Exactly. Well placed and properly functioning legislation can improve long
term sustainability and growth.

What's bad is when companies use their money to muck up politics and bend the
rules to their own ends, to the detriment of society, which happens all too
often, such as in the case of big tobacco and subsidies for the oil or
automobile industries.

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cyrus_
Requiring corporations to act responsibly is different from wanting a world
where they do.

