Michael R. Strain, Columnist

Milton Friedman Was Right About Shareholder Capitalism

Today’s critics misunderstand the Nobelist’s 1970 admonition to put profit first; he was not rationalizing corporate misconduct or short-termism.

September 18, 2020 at 6:30 AM EDT

By Michael R. Strain

Michael R. Strain is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is director of economic policy studies and Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of “The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It).”

Responsibility to whom?
Photographer: Alex Wong/Getty Images

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My Bloomberg Opinion colleague Joe Nocera is a onetime believer in Milton Friedman’s doctrine who has changed his mind. He explains why here.

Fifty years ago this month, the economist and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman published his famous essay in the New York Times Magazine arguing that, as the headline writer put it, “The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.”

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