Hood, who heads The John Locke Foundation, a North Carolina think tank, enters the debate over corporate social responsibility solidly on the side of enterprise. Using a historical review as well as executive interviews and case studies, he argues that business responsibility can be judged by examining how actual companies confer broad, measurable benefits to society by pursuing the profit motive in their day-to-day operations. Reprinted here just as it was published in 1996; the work has nothing to say about damaging practices at corporations such as Enron and Worldcom, which didn't crash and burn until early in the 21st century. Annotation 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
