The Milton Friedman-John Mackey debate on social responsibility

Back in 1970, economist Milton Friedman wrote a now-famous commentary on social responsibility, with the basic argument that “the social responsibility of business is to make a profit.”

John Mackey, the founder and CEO of Whole Foods, holds otherwise, and responds to Friedman’s stand in a subsequent article that also includes comments from T.J. Rodgers, the founder and CEO of Cypress Semiconductor, who supports Friedman’s position by maintaining that corporations which seek long-term shareholder value are more beneficial to society than corporations which focus on charitable endeavors.

This link takes you to an archived presentation of the “debate,” as maintained by Reason.com.

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