Friedman 50 years later

eBook: Milton Friedman 50 Years Later, a Reevaluation

Over the past couple of months, ProMarket has hosted a lively debate on whether Milton Friedman was right or wrong when he...

Corporate Responsibility and The Two Minds of Milton Friedman

Milton Friedman had two inconsistent minds: That of an economist and an ideologue. The view that maximizing profits without constraint is a...

Friedman’s Legacy: From Doctrine to Theorem

Friedman was more right than his detractors claim and more wrong than his supporters would like us to believe. However, after 50...

The Purpose of Business is to Solve Problems of Society, Not to Cause Them

Claims that a stakeholder-focused system of corporate governance cannot succeed in the US are perverse because they take as given that corporations...

Can Institutional Investors Solve Societal Issues When Governments Fail to Do So?

A new study looks into the social costs associated with private prisons to show that privatization may come with social trade-offs when...

Bringing Ethics Back to Friedman’s Call to Purpose for the Next 50 Years

Fifty years ago, Friedman compellingly presented his argument for shareholder primacy. But as currently implemented, shareholder primacy threatens the unifying purposes that...

Milton Friedman and the Need for Justice

Milton Friedman predicated his shareholder value maximization credo on the strong implicit and explicit assumptions that the rules of society protect stakeholders...

There Is a Direct Line from Milton Friedman to Donald Trump’s Assault on Democracy

Milton Friedman believed that corporations have a social responsibility to play within the rules of the game. But corporations aren’t just players...

Strength in Numbers: Using Data to Track Diversity and Inclusion

Recent protests against racism and police brutality, along with the #MeToo movement, have increased pressure on businesses to measure and improve their...

Shareholder Value and Social Responsibility Are Not At Odds

Being socially responsible can, and frequently does, make good business sense. There are plenty of opportunities for companies to do well by...

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Mobile Internet Is Changing Employment in Developing Countries, but Not Always as Expected

Scholars and policymakers have put much faith into the prospect of internet connectivity catalyzing development in low- and middle-income countries. In new...

Biden’s Second-Best Economic Agenda

Efficiency is out and political economy is in. But what does that imply about making good policy?

The Fed and Bank Failures

Viral Acharya and Raghuram Rajan explain how quantitative easing contributed to the problems underlying the recent bank failures such as that of...

Self-Preferencing Theories Need To Account for Exploitative Abuse

Patrice Bougette, Oliver Budzinski, and Frédéric Marty argue in their research that antitrust authorities on both sides of the Atlantic must take...

Startup Acquisitions Have Undecided Effects on Innovation and Economic Growth

Startups are a major driver of innovation, but many startups are acquired by large incumbents. Do these acquisitions stifle innovation or promote...