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Date: 2024-10-31 Page is: DBtxt001.php txt00022811

CORPORATE BEHAVIOR
PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT
President Teddy Roosevelt on Corporate Wealth and Public Good

Peter Burgess COMMENTARY
One of my criticisms of most analysis of almost anything is that the goal seems to be to get a single simple answer. This rarely works. Most subjects are too complex for this.

This quote highlights the idea that it is the behavior that matters, not the actor itself. The corporation is not evil but bad behavior by the corporation may be evil.

President Theodore Roosevelt was quite clear that there was an expectation for corporate behavior to deliver 'public good' and not merely to deliver profit for owners / stockholders. This clarity has been missing for the past 40 years during which time there has been a drum-beat around the idea that the sole responsibility of corporate management has been to deliver the maximum of benefit to stockholders. This was championed by Milton Friedman at the University of Chicago, but all the major business schools had a role in making financial performance the #1 corporate priority.

There has been a growing conversation about social and environmental responsibility in the last few years ... but the metrics needed to manage these issues remains very very weak compared to the very powerful system of double entry accountancy that is the main driver of corporate decision making and investment analysis.
Peter Burgess

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