Major props to Jamie Dimon for kicking it up a notch. After exposing AOC’s New Green Deal for what it is—bunk—the JPMorgan CEO then critiqued its socialist underpinnings, noting to shareholders that “socialism inevitably produces stagnation, corruption and often worse.”
He’s one of the rare few business leaders willing to address the collectivist chic currently embraced by a younger generation who thoroughly misunderstands what it is and, more importantly, what it’s done.
The healthiest, wealthiest and most technologically advanced cohort ever is hellbent on reversing humanity’s gains, hence the enthusiasm for the New Green Deal, the fantastic nature of which was laughably taken apart. In in order to save face, the bill was then pitched as a proposal, and then merely “suggestions” to get people talking about the supposed climate scourge.
They’d do well to remember George Santayana’s famous admonition of history’s vicious cycle but, nah, Twitter mobs must be rallied to decry the country’s entrepreneurial ethos, with no hint of irony.
ESG, impact investing, Morningstar’s sustainability ratings—all important, but the flipside of which should always be examined. If any investment is unsound it must be addressed, despite airy, undefined ideas of “societal good.”
It’s one reason so many sustainable investments are fiduciary “nightmares,” according to one well-known ERISA attorney who whispered the charge during an ESG panel discussion to avoid breaking the room’s Kumbaya vibe.
Until the recent MSCI study, there was no causal link between ESG characteristics and corporate financial performance, however, its results are still debated and that’s only one study so far produced.
An advisor some years ago implored a group of peers to set aside preconceived biases about environmental issues when planning for a client’s financial future.
“Whatever one thinks, tornados are becoming stronger and more frequent,” she said by way of example, failing to note that the season in which she made the claim was the second lowest for tornadic activity on record. It naturally raised the question, whose biases, exactly, should be set aside?
It’s why a willingness to counter such group-think is so heartening. We never thought we’d say it, but we should all be as brave as *checks notes* Jamie Dimon.