9 Comments

Your essay is spot on A problem is the use of the word 'woke' successfully works as a message. And there is no counter message. By using 'woke', it delivers a message greater than even quoting from the bible. And 'woke' blurs any nuance or understanding and erases any room for debate. From 1984, "They could be made to accept the most flagrant violations of reality, because they never fully grasped the enormity of what was demanded of them, and were not sufficiently interested in public events to notice what was happening. ...

A few years ago, I taught Business, Government and Social Responsibility at ISU. Business and Pol Sci undergrad and grad students participated. I expect the textbook will be banned shortly.

Expand full comment

Thank you.

Expand full comment

The "issue" is a concern for the "tie-breaking" language, all other labels(woke, left, right, etc.)aside. If a fiduciary cannot find other compelling reasons or differentiation then deference is given to ESG investing. By definition, that forces the fiduciary into a position of no longer being a fiduciary and a requirement that they must look to ESG investments. While the DOL has a long history of stating "thou shalt have the following types of funds and investments available in one's 401(k), 403(b), etc.", they have never issued any rules relative to process of selection of one fund or class of investment over another.

Having a requirement that ESG or other types of investments are available in various retirement platforms is fine; it's no different than requiring money market, bond, or time-related funds. This notion of the government via the DOL dictating process of investment selection is problematic. It is conceivable that a fiduciary will be challenged to defend their actions if they didn't choose some level of ESG investing.

One need look no further than the Social Security system to understand how pathetic the government is at picking investments for people.

Expand full comment

I like your analysis. My compliments!

Expand full comment

Doesn't Iowa already have an "anti-woke" investment law?

Expand full comment