The Corporate Responsibility Canard

A growing chorus of activists claim that American corporations are too focused on the bottom line — and not sufficiently dedicated to improving the broader society. Even some figures from the business community have begun to call for corporations to move from a narrow focus on shareholders to a much more expansive commitment to “stakeholders.” In this episode, Richard Epstein explains how such efforts blur the lines between private business, charity, and government; why a corporation’s responsibility to shareholders isn’t inherently anti-social; And where progressive critiques of corporate governance and “quarterly capitalism” fall short.