When it comes to "business for the social good," there are many examples to be proud of. Bill and Melinda Gates are fighting malaria. Warren Buffett advocates that billionaires give their money away. Many others have signed The Giving Pledge. In addition to all this, many businesses participate in corporate social responsibility activities or pro bono work. All this is great. However, I'd like to point out that proponents of "business for the social good" are largely motionless when it comes to fixing political issues which cause social problems in the first place*.

There are underlying schisms in the political systems which exacerbate or increase the likelihood of market failure. Business interests overlook these issues. For example, when's the last time you heard a corporation advocate for campaign finance reform or billionaires (with Warren Buffett as a sort-of exception) talk about fixing loopholes in the tax code?

With limited exception, business interests are silent on underlying political and institutional issues to the social problems they are trying to solve. They fix market failure ex post instead of working ex ante to create a more resilient political system which prevents market failure in the first place.

I appreciate all business interests do for society, I really do, and for that they should be lauded. But, I don't think we should ignore the fact that corporate interests and billionaire philanthropists are ignoring the gorilla in the room: fixing political systems so their money isn't as needed to fix social problems.

Most companies, I'd argue, actually do the opposite of fixing political and institutional problems. Instead, they actively try to exploit political systems to improve their chances of winning in the marketplace.

If companies are not actively trying to bend the rules in their favor, they are silent. I can't think of one business interest (though I'm sure there are a few) that lobby for fairer markets that are aligned with the public interest.

Business schools are mostly silent on this issue, too. Not once in my MBA so far, for example, have we talked about whether business has the responsibility to advocate for fair and efficient markets. In class, we assume that markets are fair, businesses play by the rules, and that businesses don't actively try to bend the rules in their favor.

The problem with that assumption is that it's undoubtedly false.

* - Why? Because fair, competitive markets are bad for business.