Corporations and the Public Interest: Guiding the Invisible Hand

In this era of rampant corporate greed, abuse of power, and dwindling governmental regulations of corporate practices, Steven Lydenberg shows how government can use the marketplace itself to make corporations act more responsibly.

Detailing a comprehensive plan for disclosure, analysis, and debate by corporations, investors, consumers, and government, Lydenberg argues that we can focus corporations on creating real long-term wealth for all instead of plundering natural resources, dumping costs on society, and diverting assets to exorbitant executive payouts and other ethically questionable uses. Most importantly, he describes practical ways of rewarding those companies that succeed in creating long-term wealth for society, and punishing those that fail.

Steven Lydenberg has spent thirty years in the social investment field. For eleven years, he was Director of Research with KLD Research & Analytics. He is currently Chief Investment Officer for Domini Social Investments LLC. He is the coauthor of Investing for Good: Making Money While Being Socially Responsible and Rating America’s Corporate Conscience: A Provocative Guide to the Companies Behind the Products You Buy Every Day, and was co-editor of The Social Investment Almanac: A Comprehensive Guide to Socially Responsible Investing.