In October 2001, Jack Welch sat on a stage at the University of Michigan and fielded a question about the Hudson River. A student wanted to understand why General Electric refused to clean up the million-plus pounds of cancer-causing Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that had been discharged into the river between 1947 and 1977.
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Welch’s response was revealing. He talked about costs and being “realistic.” He dismissed the company’s critics as “unreasonable environmental activists.” He repeated GE’s talking point that “there is no credible evidence that PCBs cause cancer.”
At the time, Welch was the most celebrated CEO in America. He had increased GE’s market value from $13 billion to more than $550 billion. The business press revered him. Business schools taught his methods. The system had declared him a success.
Two decades later, that judgment is being reconsidered. The New York Times published a systematic critique of Welch’s philosophy titled The Man Who Broke Capitalism. But the deeper question is not whether Welch was right or wrong. It is why the system allowed his destructive behavior to be seen as success.
The answer, as Christopher Marquis argues in his new book The Profiteers, is that the system was designed for such behavior. The ability to privatize profits while socializing costs is not a bug in capitalism. It is a feature—one so deeply embedded in corporate law, financial practice, and cultural assumptions that we barely recognize it anymore. And the recent enthusiasm for “stakeholder capitalism” and ESG investing may be less a genuine reform than another form of corporate gaslighting.
The Profiteers profiles innovators: Allbirds (carbon labeling), Greyston Bakery (open hiring), Tony’s Chocolonely (slave-free chocolate), PayActiv (earned wage access), and the Long-Term Stock Exchange.
Below is a chapter-by-chapter summary of the book.
Chapter 1: Business’s Free Lunch – Recognizing the Hidden Costs
In 2001, GE’s Jack Welch dismissed a student’s question about cleaning up PCBs dumped into the Hudson River, claiming “no credible evidence that PCBs cause cancer” — a lie. The EPA had classified 200 miles as a Superfund site. This exemplifies profiteering: privatizing profits while socializing costs.
Lauderdale paradox: An inverse relationship exists between public and private wealth. When resources are extracted from nature and turned into commodities, public wealth (clean air, water) becomes private wealth. GDP rises, but society is actually poorer.
Chapter 2: Society Pays the Bill – How We Are Tricked
Presenting a false view of reality to convince victims they are responsible for a wrong the gaslighter committed. Tactics include astroturfing (fake grassroots), greenwashing, tilting cost-benefit equations, and manufactured cultural wedge issues (anti-ESG, anti-“woke”).
Astroturfing examples: Keep America Beautiful (founded by plastic producers), Western States Petroleum Association (fabricated climate-science denial groups), Massachusetts Coalition for Independent Work (funded by Uber/Lyft/DoorDash to fight worker classification).
Netflix claims carbon efficiency but excludes user device emissions — the largest source. Their carbon footprint increased 50% between 2020-2021. This is the Jevons paradox: efficiency leads to lower costs, which leads to more consumption and higher total emissions.
Working forward vs. backward
Allbirds takes a cradle-to-grave approach, including product use and end of life. They introduced SweetFoam, the first carbon-negative shoe sole, and open-sourced it. Partnered with Adidas to create a shoe with 1kg CO₂ (industry average is 14kg). Numi Organic Tea includes carbon labels accounting for transportation, packaging, ingredients, and even water boiling by consumers.
“Organic is about doing less harm. Regenerative is about making the world better.” — a farmer quoted by Marquis. Regenerative agriculture restores soil health, increases carbon drawdown, and reduces chemical runoff.
Innovators
rePlant Capital helps farmers transition from agrochemical to regenerative practices, saving a farmer in Indiana $500,000 in his first year. Dr. Bronner’s and Patagonia co-founded the Regenerative Organic Alliance. Illycaffè is piloting carbon-free coffee plantations and teaching practices to all farmers. Tablas Creek Vineyard: “A healthy vineyard shouldn’t just be grapevines — it should be as far from a monoculture as possible.”
“If you’re producing a lot of waste, there is something not functioning efficiently inside your organization.” — Nate Morris, Rubicon. Fast fashion: consumers buy a new piece of clothing every five days; for every five new garments, three are disposed of.
Circular models
Interface pioneered leasing carpet tiles instead of selling them. Richard Henkel (German furniture) repairs, refurbishes, and recycles — replacing linear model with closed loop. Back Market (refurbished electronics) grew 1,000% in two years. Seventh Generation moved to 100% PCR caps and waterless products.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): Europe requires companies to cover recycling costs. But Judith Enck (Beyond Plastics) argues EPR without reduction targets is a Band-Aid: focus should be on plastic reduction and elimination, not just funding recycling.
In 2003, Dutch journalist Teun van de Keuken ate chocolate bars and turned himself in as an accessory to child slavery. Courts wouldn’t prosecute (they’d have to prosecute everyone). So he launched Tony’s Chocolonely — now 100% slave-free, paying farmers a living income. Barely 5-6% of a chocolate bar’s price goes to farmers in the mainstream industry.
Innovators: earned wage access
PayActiv allows workers to access 60% of earned wages before payday — no payday loans. Increased retention 20-40% at clients like Walmart and Wendy’s. Rhino Foods offers no-questions-asked $1,000 loans during emergencies. Sama (AI company) uses a “human-in-the-loop” model to upskill workers in East Africa, paying living wages.
Hires anyone without résumé, interview, or background check. “They told me ‘yes’ when everyone else said ‘no,’ and it means everything,” said Shawana Swanson, a single mother of five. Since 2017, 95% of open hires are people of color, 33% women.
What works (and what doesn’t)
Dobbin & Kalev (Getting to Diversity): Diversity training alone doesn’t work — can even backfire. What works: open hiring (Greyston), broadening recruitment networks (SecondMuse), and management diversity. As You Sow developed a Racial Justice Scorecard with 57 KPIs — 20% based on public declarations, 80% on actual actions. Reinventure Capital invests with explicit goal of advancing women and people of color.
Chapter 8: Governing with the Commons in Mind
Almost 40 US states have passed benefit corporation legislation, making directors legally accountable to social/environmental missions, not just shareholders. Delaware passed it in 2013. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (2025/2027) will require mandatory reporting on Scope 1-3 emissions and social impacts — even for non-EU companies doing business in Europe.
Chapter 9: Commons First Finance and Ownership
Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE): Companies listed must measure impacts over years/decades, not quarters. Longer-held shares get greater voting rights. Wefunder allows anyone to invest in startups (min $100). Employee ownership: Fireclay Tile redistributed almost all ownership to employees — revenues increased 800%. Mondragon Corporation (Spain) is a voluntary association of 95 employee-owned companies. Patagonia transferred ownership to two foundations to ensure profits combat climate change.
Chapter 10: Corporate Activism for the Commons
Ben & Jerry’s: Three-part mission (economic, social, product). Launched Justice ReMix’d flavor to support criminal justice reform. Advocates for LGBTQ rights since before same-sex benefits were discussed. Beautycounter: Created a “Never List” of 1,800 harmful ingredients; helped pass the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (2023).
Chapter 11: Consumption and the Commons – Beliefs to Action
Patagonia’s “Don’t buy this jacket” campaign (2011) took a stand against overconsumption. IKEA buyback program offers 30-50% of original price for returned furniture. REI used gear division. Eileen Fisher buys back used garments for $5 and resells them under Renew brand. DoneGood is “the Amazon of social good” — vets companies for environmental and labor practices.
Conclusion: We Are Up to the Challenge of Systems Change
Successful change projects have three elements: mobilize diverse constituents, effective framing, and capitalize on opportunity structure. Our moment is propitious: nine consecutive hottest years on record, hundred-year floods monthly, species extinction accelerating, and COVID revealed vulnerability. As Victor Hugo said: “There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”