The purpose of this blog

 The purpose of this weekly blog is to do due diligence on the ideas underlying ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) factors as used in the investment and economic realms. 

The ESG movement is extremely heavily based on the hypothesis that there exists man-made global warming or climate change, caused by human combustion of fossil fuels that emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which requires a radical and forced if necessary transformation of human activity and life. The "E" portion of ESG dominates and with the "E" it is the human emission of carbon dioxide that is the almost universal concern. Thus, my almost total focus will also be on the "E" portion of ESG and this is also where I have the greatest knowledge. 

My hypothesis is that if investment management companies were to do the same level of due diligence on these ideas as they are expected to do when researching investments, and if their value system is aligned with human flourishing, then they would shrink in horror from many of the ideas of ESG and loudly denounce it to the investment industry, to their clients, and to regulators. 

Included in my purpose is to persuade investment management companies to restrict their use of ESG to a narrow set of products and to be extremely careful about their related marketing communications. It is one thing to offer a themed product that customers want, but very different to apply ESG across the board and at the level of internal company management. The first creates some risk, but the latter makes it company-wide. I also hope these ideas reach regulators, where the adoption of ESG creates not only product and company risk, but systemic risk that damages the entire jurisdiction.

In failing to do such due diligence, I believe investment managers are leading themselves exposed to all kinds of risk, including: 

• investment risk associated with biased investment selection;
• business risk due to pending reputational damage that will come  when customers realize how they have been poorly served;
• regulatory risk if the day comes when regulators do the same due diligence I refer to;
• political risk when governments shame investment managers who have acted against the interests of justice, honesty, integrity, and productiveness.

I believe I am unusually well-positioned to provide commentary on this subject. 

Since 1993 I have been a personal financial advisor in Canada and as part of my early studies in my field, I naturally came across economics and finance. My study of these has included reading the work of some great economists such as Ludwig von Mises and his intellectual heirs such as George Reisman. I have found that what is known as the Austrian School of economics has the best correspondence to reality and the best explanations for economic activity. Note that nothing I write has anything to do with any companies I may be affiliated with, these are my own thoughts as a private citizen and I am solely responsible for this blog.

Further, since the mid-1990s I have been an avid follower of the work of Ayn Rand, whom I believe to be the greatest philosopher of the last two centuries and among the top four of all time. Rand's integration of the work of Aristotle, the originator of reason-based thinking, with the new knowledge gained during the Enlightenment (the Age of Reason) and its consequent industrial revolution, is truly revolutionary and yet still poorly understood and mostly ignored. During her life, Ayn Rand published four great works of fiction including her magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged, several non-fiction works, and many essays and lectures. The life work of Rand's intellectual heir, Dr. Leonard Peikoff, has systematized, documented, and applied Rand's philosophy, which she named Objectivism, to help ensure her ideas endure through time and are accessible to both academia and the general public. 

Third, my academic background is in science, then education, then back to science through a college (CEGEP in Quebec) diploma in pure and applied science, a Bachelor of Education from McGill University, then a Master of Arts in exercise physiology from McGill University. It is especially my studies for this last degree that my skills at researching the scientific literature, then synthesizing, critiquing, and summarizing it that I gained the knowledge and confidence to separate hypotheses from established knowledge, speculation from fact, projections from reality, and probable from possible and implausible. Once such skills are acquired they can be applied to a great many questions without requiring expert knowledge of the subject matter, although some such knowledge is required. 

This blog focuses on three categories of topics:

1. The illumination of the true nature of ESG using research articles from academia (the Science category). In this category, my background in science is tremendously helpful and I have been studying the scientific aspects of the Earth's climate and temperature since 2001. I consider myself a lay-expert on the subject, having read widely and for a long time on the subject - everything from peer-reviewed scientific publications to books written by renowned scientists that synthesize subject knowledge, to commentary by eminent scientists on their areas of expertise.
2. Media articles that focus on Investment/Economic commentary and observations. In my studies, I have also read many books written by seasoned experts on this subject but these are published over a span of years and are not typically good weekly discussion materials for a blog.
3. The many Absurdities that result when the irrationalities of ESG are implemented or even attempted. This category is where I try to provide some light-hearted views on serious subjects in the hope of making fun of the inane ideas and actions of ESG advocates. If comedy is indeed one of the most effective methods of critique, then the ESG field provides us with a never-ending stream of opportunities to practice.

I always welcome questions: they provide me the opportunity to test my ideas and my ability to communicate them. I hope you will share links to this blog with others you think might be interested, whether they agree or disagree.