The Guardian View on Corporate Reforms: Entrenching, Not Ending, Neoliberalism

An editorial in The Guardian argued that a recent UK government consultation on corporate reporting prioritizes shareholder interests over those of wider society.

The piece traced the debate to economist Milton Friedman's 1970 argument that the "social responsibility of business is to increase its profits," and his view that businesses prioritizing job creation over profit reflected "pure and unadulterated socialism."

The editorial contended that this shareholder-first approach to defining corporate purpose remains deeply contested.