Law & Liberty
Climate Tyrants’ New Tactics
Chief Justice John Marshall’s observation, “[t]hat the power to tax involves the power to destroy,” has become part of American political lore.
News Release
CEI Welcomes Communications Expert to Center for Advancing Capitalism
The Competitive Enterprise Institute is pleased to welcome writer, communications expert, and political scientist Joshua Bandoch as a Research Fellow in its Center for…
Fee Stories
Where Have All the Capitalists Gone?
Economist Richard Salsman presents liberty advocates with a striking rhetorical question in the title of his most recent book. Are there really fewer capitalists than ever…
Blog
Comments on Department of Labor Pension ESG Rule
At the end of last year, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking to rewrite rules on pension fund…
Blog
Larry Fink and BlackRock Pulling Back on “Woke” Investing?
Larry Fink and his team at BlackRock seem to have heard the growing roar of opposition to politicized investing that is emerging in the United…
National Review
In Texas, ESG Virtue-Signaling Is a Risky Investment
As the old saying goes, it would take a heart of stone not to laugh. Large financial corporations are now being skewered in the Lone…
National Review
In Texas, ESG Virtue-Signaling Is a Risky Investment
The American Spectator
How ‘We’ Obscure the Truth About Policy
Blog
Which Classic Books Deserve a Retro Review in 2022?
Every year, there’s a tsunami of new books about economics, politics, and public policy that are full of hot takes and policy recommendations. In any…
Blog
Edmans, Soukup, and Devine: 2021 Book Review Roundup
We saw some great books on economics and politics published over the past year, and some excellent book reviews. Just this week, my colleague Ryan…
Blog
Review of Vivek Ramaswamy’s Woke, Inc.
Vivek Ramaswamy—pharmaceutical entrepreneur, son of immigrants, Yale Law grad, Hindu, and political conservative—is a capitalist with a lot of strong criticism for big business today.
Blog
The Challenges of ESG Investing in Space
Last month, I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion on the future of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing in the…
E&E News
Support Builds for Reversing Trump’s Limits on ESG Investing
E&E News cites Research Fellow Richard Morrison’s DOL letter on pension funds and ESG investing: To be sure, there will be detractors. Conservative and industry…
Blog
Can Pensions Be Saved from Political Mismanagement?
The Department of Labor is currently working on a new rule that would give pension fund managers greater leeway in considering non-financial criteria when…
National Review
How ESG Advocates Want to Redefine Your Retirement
Economic policy is changing fast in Washington, and your retirement account may soon experience the whiplash. One of the best policies enacted by the previous administration…
Comment
Comment on Proposed Rule “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights”
Assistant Secretary Khawar: Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Employee Benefits Security Administration’s recently proposed rule on the Investment Duties regulation under…
Newsweek
The Shaky Case for Mandating Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards
It’s a good time to be a female business executive in America. The percentage of firms with female CEOs is rising, and a …
Blog
New Analysis on ESG Investing: Friedman, Edmans, and Materiality
At times it seems like public events on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing are a dime a dozen; some think tank, consulting firm, or…
Fortune
Business can’t rally around climate goals until politicians turn those goals into law
Advocates of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing seem to have good reason to be optimistic these days. Virtually every day, another…
National Review
Will the Energy Crisis Be ESG’s Great Reset?
When it comes to the world of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, we’ve become used to Panglossian headlines about how every new development only …
Blog
Public Interest Groups Challenge Nasdaq Diversity Rule in Federal Court
Back in August, I wrote about the new board diversity requirements on Nasdaq-listed companies that had been approved by the Securities and Exchange…
Blog
Retro Review: The Social Responsibilities of Business (1970)
The Biblical book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that “there is no new thing under the sun.” Even centuries before the modern era, our ancestors…
Blog
Federalist Society Experts Duel on Climate Risks and Regulation
Earlier this week, the Federalist Society presented a panel discussion titled “Corporate Social Responsibility, Investment Strategy, and Liability Risks” that addressed some important issues…
National Review
Conservatives Waking Up: ‘Responsible Investing’ Could Mean Left-Wing Control
We may finally be seeing a turning point in the world of “sustainable” and “responsible” investing. For the past two decades, those labels have been informed…
RealClear Policy
Don’t Force a One-size-fits-all Framework On Social Investors
Real Clear Policy
Don’t Force a One-size-fits-all Framework On Social Investors
Interest in environmental, social, and governance-themed, or ESG, investing has seen significant growth in recent years, but it has been matched by persistent complaints from…
Blog
Capitalism and Corporations: Respect Stakeholders, But Follow the Law
Last week the Law & Economics Center at George Mason University hosted a fascinating event here in Washington, D.C. on the debate over shareholder…
Blog
Nasdaq’s Board Diversity Rule Still a Mistake
On Friday the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a new rule from Nasdaq that will require firms listed on that exchange to comply…
Blog
Do We All Deserve a Share of the World’s Natural Resources?
In early July I wrote an op-ed for Inside Sources, which was subsequently picked up by several newspapers, on why the United States should…
National Review
Forecast for the SEC: Storm’s a Comin’
The Biden-era Securities and Exchange Commission, led by Chairman Gary Gensler, has a lot on its plate, including potential action on everything from…
Law & Liberty
A Lawless Environmental Agenda
Recently a Dutch district court issued an unusual decision ordering oil company Royal Dutch Shell to dramatically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by…
Inside Sources
The Case Against a Universal Basic Income
The financial dislocations of the novel coronavirus pandemic and the unprecedented cash benefits that policymakers implemented in response have sparked renewed interest in an old…
Real Clear Policy
Don’t Knock ‘Rainbow Capitalism’ – Business Is an Essential LGBT Ally
During last month’s pride celebrations, there was a lot of debate about corporations and their embrace of Pride Month. As with any popular holiday, corporate…
NNY 360
Richard Morrison (counterpoint): The case against a universal basic income
WASHINGTON — The financial dislocations of the novel coronavirus pandemic and the unprecedented cash benefits that policymakers implemented in response have sparked renewed interest in…
Blog
Reviewing SEC Climate Disclosure Comments
Earlier this week, I wrote a short summary of the comments from myself and my colleague Marlo Lewis to the Securities and…
Blog
Climate Disclosure Comments to the SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Allison Herren Lee solicited comments on climate change from the public back on March 15, and the deadline for…
Comment
Public Input on Climate Change Disclosures: Questions for Consideration
View Full Document as PDF Dear Commissioner Lee, Please find below comments from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) in response to selected questions…
The FinReg Blog
How Policymakers Can Defuse a Major Esg Threat to Shareholder Rights
Since 2004, when the term “ESG” was first used in a report published by the United Nations Global Compact, there has been an explosion of interest…
The Foundation for Economic Education
What ‘The Enduring Tension’ Can Teach Us about the Core Institutions of Our Civilization
Don Devine’s ambitious new volume is that rare published work that delivers an even larger and broader message than its title promises. A focus on…
Blog
Should the SEC Require More Climate Data from Public Companies?
This week, Case Western Reserve University law professor (and CEI alum) Jonathan Adler hosted a fascinating event titled “Climate Change, Financial Markets &…
National Review
When ‘Voluntary’ Becomes Obligatory — Regulatory Creep and the SEC
There was a time — not so long ago — when it was widely accepted that the primary purpose of a corporation was to generate return…
Blog
New Study: Defusing the ESG Threat to Shareholder Rights
Today the Competitive Enterprise Institute published my new study on theories of enlightened investing, Environmental, Social, and Governance Theory: Defusing a Major Threat to…
Study
Frequently Asked Questions on ESG Theory
View Full Document as PDF Q: What does “ESG” stand for? A: ESG is short for “environmental, social, and governance.” It is a…
Fortune
The SEC May Get Tougher On ESG Claims—Shaking Things Up For Investors
As Gary Gensler takes the helm at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), he’ll face decisions on a raft of high-profile issues—including cryptocurrency, the …
News Release
Report: Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Goals Remain Vague but Pose Major Threat
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report takes a close look at environmental, social, and governance (ESG) theory, a trending cause aimed at pressuring for-profit…
Study
Environmental, Social, and Governance Theory
View Full Document as PDF EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The concept known as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) theory has a long history of similar,…
Blog
Expect Search for Corporate Virtue to Get Increasingly Expensive
Last week I wrote about a video from the Financial Times that was meant to explain environmental social, and governance (ESG) investing. Despite…
Fox Business
SEC’s Gary Gensler Eyes Crypto And Climate Change With Confirmation Official
Fox Business cites Research Fellow Richard Morrison on ESG: ESG advocates are likely to try to stretch the definition of material as…
FEE
Got Woke: A Review of ‘The Dictatorship of Woke Capital’
How did corporate America, long considered one of the most conservative American institutions, become a lead protagonist in a culture war over all manner of…
Blog
Americans Ambivalent about Billionaire Influence, Reject Left-Wing Hostility
New polling, recently written up at Reason, shows that the American public isn’t nearly as hostile to capitalism, and the leaders of big…