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Ask HN: Is ESG Dangerous?
- yawpitch 4y agoNo.
- bruce343434 4y agoDefine what the acronym ESG means to you?
- gus_massa 4y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental,_social,_and_corporate_governance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental,_social,_and_cor...
- mostlysimilar 4y agoWhat's ESG?
- finfrastrcuture 4y agoIt stands for "Environmental, Social and Governance" - basically, a for-profit entity incorporating these factors into business decisions. The argument is that since companies exist in societies and have externalities beyond financials, they should take a stand on various non-business topics (e.g. a factory sponsoring environmental cleanup near their factory which they aren't technically liable for) This is controversial as it cuts to the core of what a company should optimize for, as some argue businesses should leave regulation / societal issues to governments.
- sharemywin 4y agoAlthough I think alot of it is in the financial and insurance areas. which does has a direct impact of the bottom line. try insuring rooftops if fires, hurricanes etc. are destroying them to the point the area becomes unlivable.
- JumpinJack_Cash 4y agoESG is a signal that big asset owners who hold hundreds of billions of dollars are clueless in their predictions of the economic cycles, and so they resorted to pursue social trends instead. They mistakenly think that what they hear on the news is the sole preoccupation of their policyholders/rightholders whereas in reality when somebody is complaining about political or social themes their brain load is usually very low, and it's essentially garbage time (using sports lingo)
- sharemywin 4y agoI kind of see it the opposite. when you have that many assets to manage there's no one push the downstream effects of your products off on too. so you have to invest across sectors and industries how do you make money in one without another going down.
- throwawaysalome 4y agoYes, like for surgery.