Business Roundtable Revises Its Statement of Corporate Philosophy

The new statement (via Fortune) says that "Each of our stake­holders is essential. W­e commit to deliver value to all of them, for the future success of our companies, our communities, and our country." Here is AP's account.

The statement is vague enough both to be consistent with Friedman''s view that the corporate executive's "responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance with [the shareholders'] desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom" and to be taken as a call to sacrifice shareholder wealth for the benefit of other stakeholders. Friedman and I wonder how directors should determine how much shareholder wealth to sacrifice for the benefit of other stakeholders.