"The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits," proclaimed Milton Friedman in a famous 1970 New York Times essay.
The view that the primary aim of a business is to increase profits and shareholder value is one that's been challenged in business schools and by economists, politicians, and in the marketplace. The rise of the theory of "stakeholder capitalism," which posits that business should also aim to achieve certain environmental and social goals, has led to the increasingly widespread adoption of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing in the financial sector. The SEC has proposed regulating ESG standards, a move that would allow the federal government to further define what constitutes a "socially responsible" company.
