Sanctimony Costs California Teachers’ Pension Plan

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System suffered “more than one billion in lost investment returns” after it divested from tobacco company stocks in 2001, reports the Wall Street Journal today.  Now, it’s considering reversing its ban on tobacco stocks.  The Florida Retirement System, which banned tobacco stocks in 1997, rescinded its ban in 2001.  But others, like the New York City Retirement System, still ban tobacco stocks.