Too much of a good thing: the bad politics of ESG

Anti-ESG investor and wannabe US presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. (Image: Getty)

Wed, 08 Mar 2023

If you’re not confused by ESG by now, you haven’t been paying attention.The once-obscure acronym (actually, an initialism) standing in for environmental, social and governance has emerged from the back pages of financial trade journals to take centre stage in US politics.Last week, for instance, the now-Republican majority US Congress voted to overturn a regulation that made it easier for pension fund managers to take ESG factors into account in investment decisions.The seemingly innocuous clause has rarked up Republicans who &ldquo...

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