Tl;dr - Academic economic theories in the 1970s, as implemented by MBAs in the 1980s, represented a sea change in how a publicly listed company was expected to behave.
Previously, it had been a balance (to taste) of "fairness", "return to workers", "social good", and "shareholder profit."
Post, shareholder profit was weighted above all else.
The argument was that this would result in better managed, more efficient, more productive companies.
Tl;dr - Academic economic theories in the 1970s, as implemented by MBAs in the 1980s, represented a sea change in how a publicly listed company was expected to behave.
Previously, it had been a balance (to taste) of "fairness", "return to workers", "social good", and "shareholder profit."
Post, shareholder profit was weighted above all else.
The argument was that this would result in better managed, more efficient, more productive companies.
I'm not sure history has born that out...