Class #6 of my Advanced Topics in Law class will be devoted to the battle of ideas over corporate social responsibility (CSR). To make this intellectual battle as memorable as possible, I have enlisted the late great conservative economist Milton Friedman and the feisty-liberal-law-professor-cum-senator Liz Warren to personify two different approaches to CSR: “greed is good” and “share the wealth.” Also, for your reference, two years ago I wrote up a detailed, 13-part paragraph-by-paragraph review of Milton Friedman’s classic essay “The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.” Links to my extended review of Friedman’s ideas are below:

1. Review of Milton Friedman (part 1)
2. Friedman on business ethics (part 2)
3. Friedman’s critique of CSR (part 3)
4. Review of Friedman (part 4): corporate managers vs. sole proprietors
5. Review of Friedman (part 5): interlude
6. Review of Friedman (part 6): theory choice
7. Milton Friedman’s fallacy? (part 7)
8. Friedman and the art of sophistry (part 8)
9. Review of Friedman (part 9): ethics and epistemology
10. Review of Friedman (part 10): markets versus politics
11. Review of Friedman (part 11): do motives matter?
12. Review of Friedman (penultimate post): politics versus markets redux
13. Review of Friedman (last post)