These days, both Democrats and Republicans—goaded by the controversies surrounding high tech and by other familiar objections to corporate conduct—seem to revile corporations. For Profit shows why this is so but also, more importantly, why we should appreciate corporations more than we do.
Magnuson’s argument is a difficult one to make at a moment when popular faith in corporations is flagging ... The chapters are entertaining and richly detailed historical accounts, and they also serve as allegories for Magnuson’s story about corporations’ abandonment of their founding purpose ... Where Magnuson errs is that corporations are not just disinclined to follow these rules but are structurally incentivized to break them.
An in-depth examination ... While enlightening and captivating, it is not a quick reference. Magnuson provides plenty of history and detail for each theme and enterprise, sometimes painstakingly so ... He is able to weave each [profile] together.
Lucid, elegantly written account ... Paints colorful, sometimes inspiring narratives ... Far from an anti-corporate polemic, this is an evenhanded, richly nuanced examination of the modern economy’s central institution.
The book offers little fresh information about a well-worn topic ... Even the reforms to encourage better corporate behavior that Magnuson presents have been well covered. It’s clear the author knows his subject well, but there’s just not much more to say about it.
