The economic and geopolitical poverty of ESG

The world scrambles for oil, gas, and coal. With inflation, prices soar. Consumers struggle to keep up. Hydrocarbon energy firms, meanwhile, enjoy giant bumps in profits and stock market value. 

If you took the advice of the world’s largest financial firm, however, you were ill-prepared for these events. Over the last half-decade, BlackRock, the index fund behemoth, told nations, firms, and investors to pursue so-called green energy and shun hydrocarbons. Now, the nations, firms, and investors who took (submitted to) BlackRock’s advice (diktats) are worse off. They suffer with unreliable and expensive energy mixes, are stuck with bad green investments, and lose out on profitable hydrocarbon investments. 

This is environmental, social, and governance investing, or ESG. Read more . . .

Bitcoin and ether, the largest and most established cryptocurrencies, have plunged around 60 percent from their highs last November. Bitcoin now trades at around $29,000 and ether at $1,950. There is chaos and depression across the world of coins, tokens, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs)—so much that my college-age daughter called me last week to ask, “What’s up with the crypto crash? Is crypto over?”

Lots of crypto skeptics surely think and hope so. My own optimism for crypto, which has waxed and waned over the last decade, had more recently been rising. Market crashes induce fear and doubt but can also bring clarity. So my daughter’s question helped me organize and simplify my thoughts. Read more . . .

How over-vaccination drives the pandemic. The power of innate and recovered immunity. The early treatment solution. The unwisdom of vaccinating young people.

See our new report offering a new Covid-19 strategy. We describe the complex evolutionary dynamics of the virus. [Newly salient with the emergence of the Omicron B.1.1.529 variant in South Africa.] We show how well-intended mass vaccination exerts evolutionary pressure toward more infectious, vaccine-resistant variants. We demonstrate the potency – and preciousness – of innate immunity, especially among young people. We show how the current strategy of maximal vaccination is leading to higher all-cause mortality. We detail highly effective but underutilized early treatments. And offer a rubric for cost-benefit analysis.