ESG investments often lack measurable impact despite their goals.
Companies overstating their use of sustainable investing criteria raises questions about the credibility of ESG.
Government action is crucial in addressing systemic crises like climate change, and businesses should support it.
Deep dives
Republican presidential candidates and ESG
Republican presidential candidates such as Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy continue to keep ESG in the national conversation. Ramaswamy in particular called it woke capitalism in his book and on our podcast.
Revisiting the conversation with Tariq Fancy
During the podcast episode, Tariq Fancy, Black Rock's former global chief investment officer for sustainable investing, shared his criticism of ESG. He highlighted the discrepancy between the goals and the actual impact of ESG investments, emphasizing the lack of measurable impact in many ESG products.
The buzz around ESG and transparency
The podcast discussed how ESG has become a buzzword, with investors pressuring companies to be more transparent. However, there have been cases of companies overstating their use of sustainable investing criteria, raising questions about the credibility and impact of ESG investments.
The limitations and dangers of ESG
Tariq Fancy argued that ESG investing has little to no measurable impact, endangering capitalism in the long run. He highlighted the mixed messaging from businesses, claiming to solve social and environmental problems while avoiding necessary government intervention. He questioned the effectiveness of holding companies accountable through shareholder voting, emphasizing the need for clearer regulations and transparency.
The role of government and responsible business
The podcast explored the role of government in addressing systemic crises like climate change. Tariq Fancy called for business leaders to be honest about the limitations of what they can individually achieve and to support government action. He criticized the current narrative that suggests the system will fix itself and called for more responsible business practices that align with expert consensus on necessary economic and environmental reforms.
Republican presidential candidates, such as Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy, continue to keep ESG in the national conversation. Ramaswamy in particular called it "woke capitalism" in his book and on our podcast. As we take our summer break, we decided to re-release our conversation with Tariq Fancy, BlackRock’s former global chief investment officer for sustainable investing, whose criticism of ESG is based not on its goals, but rather on an insider's knowledge of how it actually works.
We’re taking a short summer break as we put together some fascinating episodes on the past and future of antitrust, the shortcomings of neoliberalism, and whether science and law are for sale in our capitalist system. In the meantime, we thought we might re-share some of our most thought-provoking episodes that are still relevant, maybe even more relevant, today. I hope you get as much out of it on a second listen as we did, and we’ll be back with brand new episodes soon. Thanks for listening.
