Profit vs. Progress

Why socially responsible investment promises to make investors richer and the world better—but fails at both.

Wall Street thrives by telling investors that clever financial strategies can reverse the trade-off between corporate profits and social progress. But the link between greater corporate social responsibility and improved financial performance is an illusion.

Profit vs. Progress dissects the massive $30 trillion “socially responsible” or “sustainable” finance industry—and finds the emperor has no clothes. At best, sustainable investing typically delivers average rates of financial and social returns. But it makes social and environmental crises harder to overcome, by using financial gimmickry to distract our attention from real solutions.

Author Brad Swanson argues that corporations in competitive markets act without moral values, and ethical investment can’t prod them to take greater social responsibility. The only way to change the outcome of the game is to change the rules. The solutions will have to come from legislatures, not corporate boardrooms.

Swanson calls for public policies to make businesses better serve all of society, not just their shareholders—without blunting their edge. His recommendations include breaking up the cartel of large asset managers, rebuilding the influence of organized labor, curbing the rapacious behavior of the private equity industry, and eliminating the conflict of interest that pits corporate directors against the greater good of the community.

The author shows that in previous eras of social crisis caused by corporate excess, meaningful reforms emerged through the political process. Today as well, the path forward is clear—if we have the will to follow it.