Pondering economic rationalism

Economic rationalism mystifies me. There is no such thing as "enough" for the corporations of today. Shareholders always want more and every era of management has to seek elevation and reward by generating greater profits than the one before - and the year before. Logically, success has to plateau at some time. But that is not acceptable. If the success rates cannot grow any more, then cost cuts must be made to ensure that the graph can keep rising. And so the functioning of the workplace keeps eroding. The golden creature rots from within to keep the shareholders happy. I just don't get it.