For many decades, Ayn Rand has been an icon of the libertarian right in the USA.  Novelist, philosopher, economist, commentator, critic, she argued for what became known as “Objectivism”.  In a nutshell (and if I’ve understood it correctly), she argued that if we all stick to the knitting and plough our own furrow, then everyone concerned — we ourselves, our associates, customers, supply chains and society in general — will do better than if we all go round deferring to the interests of third parties, and, by implication, put our own interests second.  Or to quote her own book title, she believed in “The Virtue of Selfishness”.

Perhaps those who agonise today about “Corporate Social Responsibility” would do well to read her work.  A corporation discharges its social responsibility by providing goods and services, creating jobs, paying wages and pensions, and paying taxes — not by running youth clubs and…