Robert Reich

BP, responsible for the worst oil spill in U.S. history, reported first-quarter profit of $4.2 billion today, 30 percent more than analysts had forecast. Walmart, one of the most irresponsible companies in the world, is also raking it in. JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank on Wall Street and recently found to have misled investors about the size of its "London Whale" losses, is doing exceptionally well.

"Corporate social responsibility" is wishful thinking sprinkled with public relations. Corporations will sacrifice profits for the public good only if they're forced to by laws adequately enforced, penalties sufficiently high that illegality doesn't become a cost of doing business, and jail terms for executives found to have been criminally negligent.

The real problem is big corporations have too much sway over those laws, penalties, and their enforcement -- especially after the "Citizen's United" case in which the Supreme Court deemed them "people" under the First Amendment. If we want corporations to act responsibly we have to get their money out of politics. That includes reversing Citizen's United.

Capitalism works when it's kept separate from democracy.