ESG and Stakeholderism Will Kill Capitalism and Democracy

Politicians and political talking heads commonly fearmonger about the death of capitalism and democracy, but the real threat lies under their noses: ESG investing and stakeholderism worming their way more deeply into more corporations. 

ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing is a system of non-standardized metrics used by investment firms. They are used to arbitrarily decide what and who they should provide capital to. Systems for scoring ESG can differ widely from one investment firm to another.  Stakeholderism, the idea of promoting the interests of the stakeholders of a firm, dovetails with ESG investing to result in investments based on sociological ideals vs practical financial decisions. What both of these have in common: a whole list of non-financial priorities and metrics, some in conflict, most of them subjective, and many that will cost money and will hurt the bottom line. These ESG metrics and stakeholder desires divert attention away from the traditional beneficiaries of corporations, shareho …