There are two common but mistaken doctrines on the political Right that would, if followed, hold government back from fulfilling its mission to level up the country. The first is that, in Milton Friedman’s words, “the business of business is business”: that the only proper measure of its success is “shareholder value”. Yet classical economists always recognised that businesses operate in a social context, depending on a subsoil of trust to enable their profits. SponsoredA successful business exists for a public purpose: to deliver something the public wants, and in a way they would approve. Generating profit is a crucial part of this, but it is not the only goal, and not always the most immediate one.

Source: The Times June 01, 2021 00:33 UTC