Yes Neil, there is a left backlash afoot today. Rand must be turning over in her…
For ‘the rest of the story’, see: http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14493098 Even Michael Moore is reporting some more egalitarian views near the end of his interview. http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/24/after_20_years_of_filmmaking_on On Sep 25, 12:01 pm, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > Devices such as collateralised debt obligations and credit-default > swaps have turned out to be spun out of invisible thread. This was so > blindingly obvious the film ‘Pi’ was made years ago. Modelling > through the Gaussian copula techniques never built in a market > portfolio of investors using the said technique, and there was no > stress on how secure such a system was from bonus-mad bandits prepared > to ignore the very risks they could conceal (thus wrecking the > model). Social finance, a movement based on the belief that financial > innovation can be used directly to help society’s neediest people is > now on the rise. > There’s just been a conference in San Francisco for SoCap09, dedicated > to building “social capital markets”. The event was abuzz with novel > ideas such as a “social stock exchange” and “sustainable hedge > funds”. The Clinton Global Initiative in New York, the Global Impact > Investing Network (GIIN) is due to be launched. This is, in effect, a > commitment to create a new asset class—impact investing—yielding a > financial return alongside a social or environmental benefit. The > network’s 20 or so members include big banks (Citigroup, Deutsche > Bank, JPMorgan), philanthropic institutions (such as the Bill & > Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation), the Acumen > Fund, which invests charitable donations in firms supplying health > care, clean water and so forth in Africa and India, and Generation > Investment Management, a green-tinged fund manager co-founded by Al > Gore. The GIIN’s goal is to share information on what works and what > does not, to agree on common language and measures of performance, and > to lobby for helpful laws and regulations. The creation of just such > an organisation was a priority set out earlier this year in a report > by the Monitor Institute, the research arm of Monitor, a firm of > management consultants. If this group succeeds, the report argued, > within five to ten years impact investing could grow to $500 billion, > around 1% of the world’s total assets under management in 2008. > The rising interest in social finance is the product of several > trends. First, the financial industry and its clients spy a way of > making money and doing good at the same time. Many impact investments > are in emerging economies, which are expected to grow faster than > developed ones. They may be uncorrelated with other assets and thus > offer diversification and reduced risk. Impact investments such as the > Calvert Community Investment Note (a bond) have performed relatively > well during the recent crisis, fuelling demand for them. Bankers also > detect a chance to give their image a badly needed polish. > Philanthropy plays a part too—especially, it seems, for super-rich > investors. Second, more people want to do well by doing good. > Specialised intermediaries have sprung up, including several “social > investment banks”, such as Total Impact Advisors, which is supported > by Calvert Foundation, a pioneer of impact investing, and Social > Finance, recently founded in Britain. Social-enterprise clubs are now > among the biggest student organisations in leading business schools. > Third, there is a growing demand for private capital and skills to be > tapped to supply the basics of life and to get small businesses going. > Government spending and philanthropy are not enough. Fourth, > governments are providing encouragement. America’s controversial > Community Reinvestment Act stimulated investment in poor > neighbourhoods (too much, critics say). The State Department is > expected to give financial support for the GIIN’s efforts to create > useful measures of social impact. The British government has given tax > breaks and introduced more helpful regulations for private investment > in social projects, as recommended by the Social Investment Task Force > it established in 2000. In the Netherlands legislation has encouraged > green investing. > > None of this is really 'new'. Some of us were active in these areas > in the 1980s. Looking at some of the people involved now gives me the > jitters, but my guess is these are the moves we need to make. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
