Last week’s announcement by the US-based Business Roundtable that the purpose of business ought to shift from generating shareholder value to stakeholder value has been met with a mix of enthusiasm and scepticism. But whatever the intention behind it, it is little more than a distraction from the big problem: aligning profit with social value.

Shareholder capitalism, the brainchild of Milton Friedman, views the purpose of business as providing a return for shareholders alone. Stakeholder capitalism would expand the purview of executives to a range of actors beyond shareholders, with the Roundtable’s release specifying workers, customers, and the broader community.