A Friedman doctrine ‐ The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits | Milton Friedman | Sept. 13, 1970 | NYT

The Final Dictum: Friedman famously quotes his own book, Capitalism and Freedom:

"There is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud."

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1. Core Thesis: Only People Have Responsibilities

Friedman’s fundamental argument is that a corporation is an "artificial person" and cannot have responsibilities in an active sense. Only individual people—such as proprietors or corporate executives—can have responsibilities.

• The Agency Relationship: A corporate executive is an employee of the owners (shareholders). Their primary duty is to conduct the business according to the owners' desires, which is generally to maximize profit while following the "rules of the game" (law and ethical custom).
• Deviation from Duty: If an executive spends company money on "social" goals (e.g., reducing pollution beyond legal requirements), they are acting as a principal rather than an agent.