> they have a fiduciary duty towards shareholders to reduce the cost (and if needed the quality) to the point of maximising profit. This is the Friedman doctri

> they have a fiduciary duty towards shareholders to reduce the cost (and if needed the quality) to the point of maximising profit. This is the Friedman doctrine: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine It has been popular since the 1970s, but there is plenty of legal precedence that says otherwise: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stakeholder_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stakeholder_theory Including recent SCOTUS rulings: > While it is certainly true that a central objective of for-profit corporations is to make money, modern corporate law does not require for-profit corporations to pursue profit at the expense of everything else, and many do not do so. For-profit corporations, with ownership approval, support a wide variety of charitable causes, and it is not at all uncommon for such corporations to further humanitarian and other altruistic objectives. Many examples come readily to mind. So long as its owners agree, a for-profit corporation may take costly pollution-control and energy-conservation measures that go beyond what the law requires. A for-profit corporation that operates facilities in other countries may exceed the requirements of local law regarding working conditions and benefits. If for-profit corporations may pursue such worthy objectives, there is no apparent reason why they may not further religious objectives as well. * https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court/13-354.html https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court/13-354.ht... * https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/573/13-354/case.pdf https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/573/13-354/case.... * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burwell_v._Hobby_Lobby_Stores,_Inc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burwell_v._Hobby_Lobby_Stores,.... See also: * https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/09/09/how-the-cult-of-shareholder-value-wrecked-american-business/?wprss=rss_ezra-klein&clsrd=&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/09/09/how-t... The late Lynn Stout wrote an entire book on the myth: * https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2012/06/26/the-shareholder-value-myth/ https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2012/06/26/the-shareholder-v... * https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2311&context=facpub https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?arti... * https://evonomics.com/maximizing-shareholder-value-dumbest-idea/ https://evonomics.com/maximizing-shareholder-value-dumbest-i... * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_A._Stout https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_A._Stout