ESG Investing is the Intrusion of Politics into Finance

Thursday, September 1

The ideological capture of large American financial institutions is running into a barrier. State level offices such as Treasurer, Auditor General, and Comptroller are asserting their authority as financial watchdogs protecting the interests of their citizens. One of the leaders in this resurgence of federalism is Marlo Oaks, Treasurer of Utah (www.marlooaks.com) who wrote recently in the Wall Street Journal (S&P Hits U.S. States With Politicized Credit Scores - WSJ) about his efforts to protect his state from politically motivated scoring from rating agencies such as S&P. That battle over ideologically captured financial management has shifted to the states and to the shareholders themselves. Treasurer Oaks joins Jerry on this episode of Meeting of Minds to talk about how he got pulled into this battle and how we are going to win it.