> The difference between pre-1970 and now, is that we've not only socially legitimized the maximization of profit, we've also all but legally mandated it.
I'm sorry, but this is just not true. If it was legally mandated, then the Costco CEO would not have been able to resist such shareholder demands. Your example proves the opposite of what you think it does.
Nothing has changed in the legal structure of corporate governance since 1970. Do you think that investors never demanded greater returns from business leaders prior to 1970?
They can still demand all they want, but the law remains clear today that corporate directors and managers have the power to run the business as they see fit, and shareholders' sole remedy for their disappointment, in the absence of outright fraud or gross negligence, is to sell their stock.
In February 2014, Tim Cook was the CEO of one of the most valuable companies in the world. At Apple's shareholder meeting, he directly told his shareholders that he does not even consider ROI in some of his decisions. Legal consequences to Apple and Tim Cook for this statement? Zero. He's still CEO. Because there is no legal mandate to maximize corporate profits.
Honestly, by buying into this myth that the law changed in the 1970s, you're lending power to a fake idea that you seem to be opposed to. There is a group of people who wish such a mandate existed, and by acting like they're right, you're kind of helping them.
Business leaders might make anti-social decisions because they feel competitive pressure to succeed in a marketplace where customers are free to choose and are price-sensitive. That's not nearly the same thing as saying that corporate governance law forces them to make such decisions. It doesn't.