711bet D.E.I. Comes and Goes. Profits Are Forever.

A prominent group of chief executives said almost six years ago that making profits for shareholders was only part of their business — and not necessarily the main part.

Speaking collectively as the Business Roundtable, C.E.O.s from companies like Johnson & Johnson, FedEx, Wells Fargo and Amazon said that, really, they were devoted to serving employees and customers, protecting the environment and treating suppliers ethically.

Thank you, I wrote in a column back then. And may I sell you a bridge?

Now that many companies are muting their commitments to programs embracing diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as to environmental sustainability, I can’t say I’m shocked.

The Trump administration has declared D.E.I. to be “illegal” and “immoral.” It has derided efforts to ensure “sustainability” and stave off climate change as misguided undertakings that are only weakening America. Faced with the administration’s threats of litigation and investigation, corporate America is, to a large extent, bending with the political wind. My colleagues, here and at other news organizations, have been documenting the retreat on these issues by countless companies, including Target,phtaya com Meta, Google, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock and Vanguard.

The spectacle of corporations changing their posture in waves, like groves of saplings in a storm, may seem startling.

But corporations have always done this. What we’re seeing now is an accelerated version. In fact, it’s what Milton Friedman, who was both a Nobel laureate economist and a high priest of conservative, free-market ideology, said they should do.

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Among national universities, Princeton was ranked No. 1 again, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. Stanford, which tied for third last year, fell to No. 4. U.S. News again judged Williams College the best among national liberal arts colleges. Spelman College was declared the country’s top historically Black institution.

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