The anti-ESG industry is taking investors for a ride
Making a stand comes at a considerable price
Until recently, there were two iron laws in investing. One, popularised by Milton Friedman, a Nobel-prizewinning economist, posited that a company’s responsibility above all else was to provide returns to its shareholders. The second, promoted by Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard, an investment firm, held that asset-management fees must be driven to the lowest level possible.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Shun woke, go broke”
Finance & economics March 4th 2023
- America’s property market suggests recession is on the way
- Russia’s sanctions-dodging is getting ever more sophisticated
- The anti-ESG industry is taking investors for a ride
- China’s cities are on the verge of a debt crisis
- Is India’s boom helping the poor?
- David Solomon lacks answers for Goldman Sachs’s angry investors
- Ajay Banga may be just what the fractious World Bank requires
- The case against Google hinges on an antitrust “mistake”
From the March 4th 2023 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Finance & economics
Europe could be torn apart by new divisions
The continent is at its most vulnerable in decades
How corporate bonds fell out of fashion
The market is at its hottest in years—and a shadow of its former self
An American purchase of Greenland could be the deal of the century
The economics of buying new territory
China’s markets take a fresh beating
Authorities have responded by bossing around investors
Can America’s economy cope with mass deportations?
Production slowdowns, more imports and pricier housing could follow
Would an artificial-intelligence bubble be so bad?
A new book by Byrne Hobart and Tobias Huber argues there are advantages to financial mania