Alan Palmiter has a new article out, with a handy summary on The CLS Blue Sky Blog:
A paradigm shift is underway: The corporation – much reviled as a cost-externalizing, short-termist, inward-focused, politically manipulative machine – is undergoing a fundamental change. This is good news. Corporations are beginning to confront the harm they created, allowing capitalism to start healing itself.
Alan argues there are three factors at work:
First, most large investment funds are either incorporating ESG into their investment decisions or tracking stock market indices. ...
The second powerful force at work is ESG. Over the last several years, it has become clearer that corporations that seek to be aware of their environmental, social, and governance actions (ESG) have perform better financially. ...
The third powerful force at work is the (almost miraculous) communication and information advances of the internet. Investors learn in milliseconds what is happening with companies.
He concludes:
Here’s the takeaway. Indexing, ESG performance, and the internet seem to have come together in a way that puts capitalism in a position to heal itself.
I'm a bit more skeptical, probably because I'm more cynical and pessimistic about human nature. But I like the project a lot anyway.
