Dr Gregg calls his review "A Stake Through the Heart of Stakeholder Capitalism":
In his new book, The Profit Motive: Defending Shareholder Value Maximization, Stephen M. Bainbridge has systematized his many criticisms of the BRT’s 2019 statement and used it as one of his “principal foils” for a systematic takedown of the very idea of stakeholder capitalism. This is accompanied by a rigorous defense of shareholder primacy on Bainbridge’s part. He not only shows that maximizing shareholder value is “descriptively accurate” of the corporation’s purpose. He also claims that it can be “normatively appealing.” Bainbridge thus seeks to steal the ethical thunder that stakeholder theorists generally assume to be their ace-in-the-hole. ...
Bainbridge’s general approach is reminiscent of the classic scholastic method: he states a clear proposition, the best case for views contrary to his own, critiques their arguments, answers objections, and then explains why his own position meets the tests of reason. ...
Thus, having put a stake through the heart of stakeholder capitalism, Bainbridge provides a powerful moral rationale for shareholder primacy—one far more robust than those which underpin stakeholder theory.
I am, of course, delighted. Please go read the whole thing.
