BrightTALK: Tackling Economic Inequality With ESG By Matt Weinstock, ESG Intern, American University
The discussion touched upon many important topics, and provided insights into many aspects of the global economy. One of these concerned economic inequality. The panelists, Ms. Rothenberg in particular, expressed her belief that there are many reasons aside from morality that a large corporation might be incentivized to promote economic equality. She implied that a healthy lower and middle class is beneficial to any economy, which, in turn, is beneficial for any large corporate entity, since their profits would be higher with higher overall economic growth, assuming costs are under control. She also cited the negative impact of social instability that inequality fosters. A stable society containing fewer violently unhappy individuals with nothing to lose means more security and stability for the world and for the elite. (Large numbers of people susceptible to revolutionary ideologies are one of few things that could undermine the current social structure and the economic opportunities it provides to the elite, so it is in their self-interest to promote lower levels in inequality.)
Panelists spent considerable time talking about financial inclusion, the environment, portfolio building, electronic data interchange (EDI), and how best to conduct business with emerging markets and developing countries. Ms. Rothenberg, who dominated the conversation throughout the hour-long event, interestingly noted that any potential investor in a company should first have an understanding of the way individuals throughout the company are motivated. If the motivation of certain individuals in a company doesn't align with the firm’s professed vision, it could be problematic. This could occur if, for example, people in charge of diversity efforts are not genuinely in favor of diversity, or if the company’s internal incentive structure rewards individuals for behavior that is inconsistent with the stated objectives of the company itself.
Additionally, this talk included mention of Dimonism, a term whose mere existence I find quite funny. Dimonism, as defined by the Ewoth dictionary, is “The economic ideology that promotes suppression of the cryptocurrency markets [or the] belief in the public practice of bashing cryptocurrency with the purpose of secretly buying more at a lower price.” This term was born out of public distrust for JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. This distrust is apparently so universally felt and agreed upon that a term has been coined is his name, under the unwavering assumption that one of his key talking points, bashing cryptocurrency and suggesting it is a bubble, is a disingenuous ploy to manipulate the market. While Mr. Dimon has been a man of his word over the years, it is certainly amusing, and indicative of growing suspicion of corporate leadership in general, that his name has been ‘ism-ed’ in this way.
All in all, this event added to BrightTALK’s image
as a reputable media outlet. Their speakers continue to have many insightful
things to say, and I find their events informative. Moreover, while ESG is
certainly seen to have a left-of-center focus, it is still fundamentally a
strategy to make money, and by highlighting how ESG fits into mainstream investing,
BrightTALK bolstered its reputation as an objective platform for pragmatic,
rather than purely ideological, discourse.
EDITOR: William Michael Cunningham