Just Be Evil (2022) | Frances Haugen, Scott Hargreaves, Sam Mostyn & Carl Rhodes

In 1970, Nobel prize-winning economist Milton Friedman famously
said that ‘the social responsibility of business is to increase
its profits’. And much of western corporate culture has lived
by that credo, allowing businesses to ravage the environment
and trash the rights of workers. 




However in more recent times, corporations have seemingly grown
a political and social conscious. Is woke capitalism the next
step towards a better world? Or is it a form of dangerous
hypocrisy that threatens democracy? 


 


Frances Haugen holds a degree in Electrical and Computer
Engineering from Olin College and an MBA from Harvard. She is a
specialist in algorithmic product management, having worked on
ranking algorithms at Google, Pinterest, Yelp and
Facebook. 


Scott Hargreaves became Executive Director of the Institute of
Public Affairs in 2022, having joined the staff in 2015. Prior
to that he worked in a range of private and public
organisations, including periods as a political adviser,
corporate affairs manager, as a manager of sustainability for a
listed company, and managing small businesses.


Carl Rhodes is Dean and Professor of Organization Studies at
the University of Technology Sydney Business School. Carl
writes about the ethical and democratic dimensions of business
and work.


Sam Mostyn is a businesswoman and sustainability adviser, with
a long history of executive and governance roles across
business, sport, climate change, the arts, policy, and NFP
sectors.