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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.”…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
Blog
Will Anyone Challenge the SEC’s Ever-Expanding Authority?
This question of redefining a government agency’s mission arose last week during an event hosted by George Mason University’s Center for the Study…
National Review
SEC Unbound: Yet More Regulatory Creep
Federal agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have long varied in their focus and priorities, depending on their current leadership and the ideological…
Blog
Perspectives on “Woke Capital” and Politicized Investing
Recently, the Competitive Enterprise Institute hosted a virtual book event for Political Forum publisher Steve Soukup’s new book, The Dictatorship of Woke…
Comment
CEI Comment on NASDAQ Board Diversity Proposal
View Full Document as PDF Comment of Richard MorrisonResearch Fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute[1]To the Securities and Exchange Commission…
Wealth Management
Gary Gensler Lays Out Enforcement Priorities at Senate Hearing
Wealth Management cites Research Fellow Richard Morrison and Senior Fellow John Berlau on the SEC and Gary Gensler: But representatives from…
News Release
Senate Should Question Biden SEC, CFPB Nominees About Needed Constraints on Regulators
Today, the Senate Banking Committee is considering President Biden’s nomination of both Gary Gensler to head the SEC and Rohit Chopra to head the…
News Release
Richard Morrison Statement on the Confirmation Hearing of Gary Gensler to Be SEC Chair
Senior Fellow Richard Morrison reacted to the confirmation hearing of Gary Gensler to be SEC Chair: “Chairman-designate Gensler’s prepared remarks for today’s…
Blog
Federalist Society and SEC’s Roisman on Future of ESG, Corporate Governance
Yesterday the Federalist Society held an excellent virtual event on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) theory, addressing “the…
National Review
Voluntary ESG Disclosures Not Enough for the Feds
Dozens of companies, including some of the best-known consumer brands, recently signed on to a new system of rules for reporting on environmental,…
The Foundation for Economic Education
Economic Nationalists and Anti-Corporate Progressives Both Want More Government Power
Last month President Biden designated Rebecca Slaughter as acting chair of the Federal Trade Commission, where she has served as a commissioner since 2018. During…
Inside Sources
Picking Gensler for SEC Another Sign Biden’s Bringing More Regulation to Wall Street
Inside Sources cites Research Fellow Richard Morrison on President Biden’s choice of Gary Gensler as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission:…
Blog
CEOs Join Davos Wonks to Launch New Corporate ESG Disclosures
Axios’ “cheerful iconoclast” Felix Salmon reported earlier this week on an agreement by dozens of major corporations to support a new system…
Blog
BlackRock’s Larry Fink: Fight COVID with Climate Activism
Larry Fink, CEO of mega asset management firm BlackRock, has released his annual pair of letters—one to the CEOs of companies that BlackRock…
Blog
Gensler Agenda at SEC Bears Close Watching
President Biden has chosen former head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Gary Gensler as his nominee to be chair of the Securities and…
Forbes
Who Is Gary Gensler, Biden’s Pick To Run The SEC?
Forbes cites Research Fellow Richard Morrison on President Biden’s choice of Gary Gensler as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission: Richard…
The Epoch Times
Biden Picks Warren Allies to Head Financial Sector Oversight Agencies, SEC, and CFPB
The Epoch Times cites Research Fellow Richard Morrison on Biden’s policy proposal for the SEC: Some conservatives have expressed reservation. Richard…
News Release
Biden’s SEC Pick Should Focus on Commission’s Core Mission, Not Political Causes: CEI Experts
President-elect Biden is reportedly set to select Gary Gensler to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gensler is a current MIT professor who previously…
The Washington Post
Biden Likely To Tap Gary Gensler To Lead SEC, But The Decision Isn’t Final
The Washington Post cites Research Fellow Richard Morrison on SEC reporting standards: Those efforts may already be in the crosshairs. Richard…
Law & Liberty
Who Will Control Corporations?
Milton Friedman taught us that corporate managers should focus on profitable operations and building shareholder value, while enlightened globalists like World Economic Forum founder…
The American Spectator
Money Isn’t Ruining Christmas
ost of us love the idea of a snow-filled white Christmas, but secretly dread the accompanying blizzard of commentary about how we ruin the…
National Review
Team Biden: Full Steam Ahead on Politicized Investing
Politicized investing, especially of the “environmental, social, and governance” (ESG) variety, has experienced some regulatory pushback during the last year, but the incoming Biden administration…
Blog
Biden Team Expected to Take Hatchet to Pension Protection Rule
The Department of Labor, under the leadership of Secretary Eugene Scalia, implemented an important (though widely misunderstood) rule this year, regarding how federally regulated…
Blog
Retro Review: The Communist Manifesto (1848)
The manifesto of the Communist party, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1847 and first published the next year, has a legendary…
National Review
Biden Brain Trust: Forget the Billionaires, Guillotine the Corporations
Buried beneath the laundry pile of new left-wing regulations the Biden administration hopes to push is a previously obscure idea whose time may, regrettably, have…
Blog
Millennials, Gen Z Optimistic about Hard Work Leading to Prosperity
The Walton Family Foundation released an interesting survey recently that found that Generation Z (ages 13–23) and Millennial (ages 24–39) Americans are more…
Blog
High CEO Pay Isn’t Making Anyone Poor
While most American are still following the final vote counts in the 2020 presidential election, many lower-profile, but still important, issues have been decided…
The American Spectator
Woke Investing and Management Strategies Threaten the Future of American Free Enterprise
The enlightened titans of the business world, from Davos, Switzerland, to New York, San Francisco, and beyond, are full of suggestions for how commerce…
National Review
A Useful Pandemic: Davos Launches New ‘Reset,’ this Time on the Back of COVID
National Review cites Research Fellow Richard Morrison on the Great Reset and claims made by Klaus Schwab: In a recent article (skillfully …
Blog
Boeing Declines to Blackmail Washington Taxpayers, Threatened by Governor in Return
Boeing recently announced plans to consolidate all production of its 787 Dreamliner jet, moving some existing work from the company’s traditional home in…
National Review
Davos Chief’s Call for Higher Taxes, More Regulation Would Mean Less Prosperity
Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum, which famously meets every year in Davos, Switzerland, is advising a “Great Reset” of economic…