In the first contribution to finance theory discussed in chapter 2, Modigliani and Miller asked what it was that the managers of a corporation should be seen as maximizing. Their answer was the corporation's market value: ". . . any investment project and its concomitant financing plan must pass only the following test: Will the project, as financed, raise the market value of the firm's shares? If so, it is worth undertaking; if not, its return is less than the marginal cost of capital to the firm." (Modigliani and Miller 1958, p. 264) There is no reason to think that in emphasizing the maximization of market value Modigliani and Miller saw themselves as acting politically.

Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, loc. 1171