Market fundamentalists believe in individual freedom, which is the cornerstone of open society, but they exaggerate the merits of the market mechanism. They believe that efficient markets assure the best allocation of resources and that any intervention, whether it comes from the state or from international institutions, is detrimental. Since market fundamentalism has become so influential, it today constitutes a greater threat to a global open society than communism or socialism, because those ideologies have been thoroughly discredited.
In "Milton Friedman Was Right: 'Corporate Social Responsibility' Is Bunk," Henry Manne argues that while he once thought that laws against corporate social responsibility (CSR) were ill-advised -- after all, corporations might easily dress up the pursuit of private profit as social responsibility -- it turns out that he was wrong, and the late Milton Friedman was right. The bottom line: the notion of CSR has been used to turn Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart into "crypto-public enterprises that are the essence of socialism."
Since even the largest corporation starts out as an idea in someone's head, and grows through a vast number of voluntary contractual agreements, Manne wonders when exactly the public gains a stake in the private property. "If one apple is a fruit, even a billion apples do not become meat."
Manne also views the stakes as very high: "Our laws against extortion do not function effectively when it comes to corporations." And he views responsible business officials as being too afraid to contradict the notion of CSR publicly -- "for fear of financial ruin, even though the practice continues to cost shareholders and society enormous amounts."
And: "The origins of this transformation lie in the minds of people who do not like or appreciate the genius of capitalist success stories, including always politicians, who will generally make any argument in order to control more private wealth."
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