NYU Professor Aswath Damodaran, known as the “Dean of Valuation”, had the chefs kiss takedown of ESG:
“I find the purveyors of ESG to be among the most sanctimonious and arrogant twits (and you can quote me on that) on the face of the earth, convinced that they have the right definition of good, that they will thrust down the throats of everyone else. The ESG measurement services, in my view, are a charade, measuring neither goodness nor risk, but they have real effects, since companies take consequential actions to improve these scores.”
The deepest disappointment during the Covid era was, for me, the failure of the church to stand up and draw the line. We left our church of 22 years because of their lack of leadership.
We're not out of the woods yet, but the rising tide of boycotts is a beautiful thing to see. May it come for BlackRock's trillions ... which looks like a lot, and is, but importantly is "under management", not their actual holdings. BlackRock is a paper tiger roaring atop a house of cards.
Thanks El gato...its all a grift. Black Rock puts pressure on Anheiser Busch (sp)to go woke.......while Bill Gates, quietly investst in Heineken...then after Busch tanks and Heiineken soars, he sells, makes his money, Then BlackRock is scoops up the Busch shares at fire sale prices.Because you know, they will own everything, and you will own nothing. Rinse and Repeat...they did it with Coke/Pepsi (remember BLAckrock vanguard and SS own the vast majority of shares in these twin companies)...then moved on to AB and then TARGET, and it is a BIG GRIFT. WHERE the hell is the FEC/SEC?
It will go on until the country crumbles. Meantime they will continue to buy farmland and huge swaths of real estate and gold. While pushing to have cows killed...can you imagine the price of beef in a year?
Pride month. Meh. It’s so 1980s. We should be over it by now. Most people don’t care about your sexual preferences, but they do care about it being stuffed in your face.
Brilliant, of course, but you're missing a key element: zero interest made this possible. In a zero interest environment, stocks/bonds become the only possible source of return, but money flows in creating enormous "beta." (This also creates further concentration of wealth as big business can take advantage of this free $ more easily than small businesses, which can't issue securities as easily & as rich people, who own financial assets, benefit from the eternal rise of financial assets.) When beta's this high, who needs to perform? Neither corporate managers nor people investing other people's money cared - beta covered all their sins. (Free money always leads to corruption.).
What this means, of course, is that the system CANNOT allow interest rates to rise - they will be forced to print $ until the currency collapses because rising interest destroys the whole thing. Look what our pathetically low interest rates have done to the banking sector already!
They can't stop inflation because they can't raise interest rates & they can't stop printing $ to cover all their losses.
And it's why Rs spend as much as Ds when they're in power: the point of government spending isn't so much to do whatever they claim as it is to keep spending - the spending is the point because spending = borrowing = money printing & money printing is everything. The Fed hands newly printed $ to banks, which give them financial assets in return. This means the financial assets rise in value as they have a market that pays full price for assets that aren't worth much (if anything). The fact that you can always dump these assets on the Fed = they're very safe = interest rates are very low & that keeps the whole thing going.
It's all about the interest rates, which have corrupted us & forced our leaders to keep cheap $ for ever. It ends when the $ collapses.
Pay attention to your 401(k), banks, and where you shop. Voting with our wallets to defund the Woke is just as important as for whom we vote with our ballots.
I’m not convinced it’s sheer myopia... for once it may not be about profit, but rather the destruction of corporations, jobs & the acceleration of Communism 2.0 ...
Depending on the boycott it may be a joke on us to these nutjobs. "The transaction, which occurred on Feb. 17, involved Gates purchasing 10.8 million shares valued at $939.87 million, according to the filing by the Netherlands’ Financial Markets Authority (AFM). The acquisition coincided with the significant sale of Heineken shares by FEMSA, the company’s major Mexican shareholder"
“so let us starve these noxious beasts and reclaim for we the people our lives an livelihoods.”
Yes. Like any internet troll 🧌 you come across. Just stop feeding it.
What does this look like? It will be different for each individual. For some it is simply to stop buying whatever they are selling (Fox News, Bud Light, Target/China, Inc., Coca Cola, MLB, NFL, Netflix...etc.
For others it will be pulling their kids out of the pubic school system, not volunteering to fight in their wars, selling stocks and buy/hold real estate, voting against whatever “the current thing” is...etc.
Excellent summary! This is a trend that has been in motion since the early days of modern civilization. Everyone's favorite Broadway-bound Treasury secretary set the stage for this by putting Washington in bed with Wall Street, and the concentration of power and money has been a vicious cycle ever since.
late stage legal plunder
NYU Professor Aswath Damodaran, known as the “Dean of Valuation”, had the chefs kiss takedown of ESG:
“I find the purveyors of ESG to be among the most sanctimonious and arrogant twits (and you can quote me on that) on the face of the earth, convinced that they have the right definition of good, that they will thrust down the throats of everyone else. The ESG measurement services, in my view, are a charade, measuring neither goodness nor risk, but they have real effects, since companies take consequential actions to improve these scores.”
Calculate your ESG score here: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-raise-your-esg-score
The deepest disappointment during the Covid era was, for me, the failure of the church to stand up and draw the line. We left our church of 22 years because of their lack of leadership.
We're not out of the woods yet, but the rising tide of boycotts is a beautiful thing to see. May it come for BlackRock's trillions ... which looks like a lot, and is, but importantly is "under management", not their actual holdings. BlackRock is a paper tiger roaring atop a house of cards.
Thanks El gato...its all a grift. Black Rock puts pressure on Anheiser Busch (sp)to go woke.......while Bill Gates, quietly investst in Heineken...then after Busch tanks and Heiineken soars, he sells, makes his money, Then BlackRock is scoops up the Busch shares at fire sale prices.Because you know, they will own everything, and you will own nothing. Rinse and Repeat...they did it with Coke/Pepsi (remember BLAckrock vanguard and SS own the vast majority of shares in these twin companies)...then moved on to AB and then TARGET, and it is a BIG GRIFT. WHERE the hell is the FEC/SEC?
It will go on until the country crumbles. Meantime they will continue to buy farmland and huge swaths of real estate and gold. While pushing to have cows killed...can you imagine the price of beef in a year?
Pride month. Meh. It’s so 1980s. We should be over it by now. Most people don’t care about your sexual preferences, but they do care about it being stuffed in your face.
The part they left out: “Build back better” follows “Destroy everything first”.
Brilliant, of course, but you're missing a key element: zero interest made this possible. In a zero interest environment, stocks/bonds become the only possible source of return, but money flows in creating enormous "beta." (This also creates further concentration of wealth as big business can take advantage of this free $ more easily than small businesses, which can't issue securities as easily & as rich people, who own financial assets, benefit from the eternal rise of financial assets.) When beta's this high, who needs to perform? Neither corporate managers nor people investing other people's money cared - beta covered all their sins. (Free money always leads to corruption.).
What this means, of course, is that the system CANNOT allow interest rates to rise - they will be forced to print $ until the currency collapses because rising interest destroys the whole thing. Look what our pathetically low interest rates have done to the banking sector already!
They can't stop inflation because they can't raise interest rates & they can't stop printing $ to cover all their losses.
And it's why Rs spend as much as Ds when they're in power: the point of government spending isn't so much to do whatever they claim as it is to keep spending - the spending is the point because spending = borrowing = money printing & money printing is everything. The Fed hands newly printed $ to banks, which give them financial assets in return. This means the financial assets rise in value as they have a market that pays full price for assets that aren't worth much (if anything). The fact that you can always dump these assets on the Fed = they're very safe = interest rates are very low & that keeps the whole thing going.
It's all about the interest rates, which have corrupted us & forced our leaders to keep cheap $ for ever. It ends when the $ collapses.
Pay attention to your 401(k), banks, and where you shop. Voting with our wallets to defund the Woke is just as important as for whom we vote with our ballots.
Excellent essay! You had me at Bastiat.
Top 5 smartest people to put pen to paper.
Now what would Bastiat do in today's current environment:
I have a feeling he would mock the absurdities unrelentingly at every given opportunity.
Be like Bastiat!
Larry fink. The name says it all. Does anyone watch Fox News anymore? No, I didn’t think so. MSM just like a fink, past it’s best💕💕
I’m not convinced it’s sheer myopia... for once it may not be about profit, but rather the destruction of corporations, jobs & the acceleration of Communism 2.0 ...
Depending on the boycott it may be a joke on us to these nutjobs. "The transaction, which occurred on Feb. 17, involved Gates purchasing 10.8 million shares valued at $939.87 million, according to the filing by the Netherlands’ Financial Markets Authority (AFM). The acquisition coincided with the significant sale of Heineken shares by FEMSA, the company’s major Mexican shareholder"
The power of the purse starts with the individual.
The most egalitarian institution man has ever devised is free enterprise...
“so let us starve these noxious beasts and reclaim for we the people our lives an livelihoods.”
Yes. Like any internet troll 🧌 you come across. Just stop feeding it.
What does this look like? It will be different for each individual. For some it is simply to stop buying whatever they are selling (Fox News, Bud Light, Target/China, Inc., Coca Cola, MLB, NFL, Netflix...etc.
For others it will be pulling their kids out of the pubic school system, not volunteering to fight in their wars, selling stocks and buy/hold real estate, voting against whatever “the current thing” is...etc.
An especially witty instalment. Great work here.
Excellent summary! This is a trend that has been in motion since the early days of modern civilization. Everyone's favorite Broadway-bound Treasury secretary set the stage for this by putting Washington in bed with Wall Street, and the concentration of power and money has been a vicious cycle ever since.
https://gomakeitreal.substack.com/p/hamilton-tells-half-the-story