In a memorial service honoring Milton Friedman held at the Hoover Institution shortly after his death in 2007, Hoover Senior Fellow Edward Lazear hit the nail on the head when he said, only half in jest, “It is amazing how many people can best Milton in an argument when he is not in the room.”

His remark has added relevance today because last week the Business Roundtable (BR), a non-profit comprised of CEOs of major U.S. organizations, did battle with an empty chair with its short announcement entitled, “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation.” The statement rejects the received wisdom—boldly pronounced in Friedman’s famous 1970 New York Times Magazine article, “The Social Responsibility Of Business Is to Increase Its Profits”—that corporate directors and officers should maximize shareholder value rather than some nebulous concept of social responsibility.

In tune with our populist times, the BR’s declaration has been interpreted in the press as  a conscious rebuke of Friedman for his propagation of what the late Lynn Stout termed  “The Shareholder Value Myth.” Friedman treated his statement as a means to an end.  The corporation that seeks to maximize its profit within the rules of the game will maximize social welfare as well. But the new wisdom is that Friedman’s model invites dangerous and selfish actions. That’s why the New York Times used the following caption for its story on the BR’s statement: “Shareholder Value Is No Longer Everything, Top C.E.O.s Say.”