Experience Stern | Faculty & Research

Businesses thrive in stable, predictable environments where government institutions ensure fair competition, fight corruption, and provide independent remedies to resolve commercial disputes. Corporate America saw an erosion on all those fronts in 2025. The Trump administration has undermined the rule of law and weakened democratic institutions in the U.S., while challenging the post-World War II international order that the U.S. helped build—and from which American businesses have benefitted enormously.

The undermining of these institutions doesn’t just threaten democracy—it threatens the very foundations of reliable business operations. When the rule of law becomes unpredictable, when regulatory agencies are politicized, and when international partnerships are undermined, businesses face increased risks, higher costs, and diminished global competitiveness.

Business leaders now face a choice: stand on the sidelines, assuring themselves that short-term gains from tax cuts and deregulation outweigh the threats to democratic stability. Or recognize that their long-term success depends on strong institutions and take greater responsibility for advancing human rights—not just as a moral imperative, but as essential business infrastructure. This is not a partisan endeavor, but rather part of an effort to safeguard the conditions that have made American markets the strongest and most dynamic in the world: stable governance, predictable regulation, and fidelity to the rule of law.

Read the full Forbes article.
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Michael Posner is the Jerome Kohlberg Professor of Ethics and Finance, Professor of Business and Society and Director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.