Direct From Davos: Our Top Takeaways

Jay OwenGreen Prosperity, Reforming Global Finance, Beyond GDP, Latest Headlines

“Ethical Markets welcomes all the truth-telling at Davos this year:

 

Watch Just Capital’s Paul Tudor Jones commenting on the current global financial bubble, debt overhangs, negative interest rates pushing investors into these stock market assets.

 

Financial leaders discussing ETF bubbles over-relying on passive indexes with a few fashionable stocks, like the FAANGs, the exposure of central banks’ roles in continuing rounds of QE that Ray Dalio and most investors now accurately call “money-printing“.   Why bitcoin and other cryptos cannot be a store of value or medium of exchange, why CEOs are espousing the Stakeholder capitalism model, along with cutting subsidies to fossilized sectors and espousing carbon taxes!

 

We prefer overall pollution taxes and ending the accounting frauds of designating pollution and other social costs as “externalities“ to be removed from balance sheets (see our GTS report “Ending Externalities: Full -Spectrum Accounting Clarifies Transition Management”, 2016)!  And Greta Thunberg explaining the economics of ”offsets”, while US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin exhibits his ignorance of the climate crisis.  All good  watching!   Thanks to our friends at Just Capital!

 

~Hazel Henderson, Editor“

Direct from Davos: Our Biggest Takeaways

 

 

“Capitalism in its current form is not working for most people. Not just in America but throughout the world, and I think that’s why Stakeholder Capitalism is the central theme in Davos this year.” -Paul Tudor Jones at Reimagining Capitalism

 

It’s been a huge week for JUST in Davos. We appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box; led Forbes’ Reimagining Capitalism panel; featured Paul Jones in conversation with EY CEO Carmine Di Sibio on the WEF stage; participated in myriad sidebar events, breakfasts, and dinners; and met with dozens of amazing people from the worlds of business, media, finance, government, philanthropy, policy, and more.

 

Our take is that there is genuine and substantial momentum building in favor of stakeholder capitalism, but that the movement stands at a crossroads. Inaction, purpose-washing, and well-meaning but ultimately ineffective “stakeholder speak” will quash progress and could even lead to backlash. In our latest Dispatch From Davos, we share these top takeaways from the week:

  1. Stakeholder capitalism is the systems reboot we need.
  1. We need less talk, more action.
  1. We need to simplify – and agree on – how we measure stakeholder value creation.
  1. Stakeholder capitalism will make companies more resilient to downside risks.
  1. Stakeholder value versus shareholder value is a false choice.

 

It’s easy to be cynical about Davos and what it really stands for. But like society itself, the Davos experience exists on many interconnected levels. It’s not all canapes and limousines. We’ve encountered many “ordinary” people here working incredibly hard to solve big problems. As the dust settles, one thing is certain; Team JUST will be in the thick of the action and driving real change as hard as we can.

 

– Martin Whittaker

 

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This Week in Stakeholder Capitalism

Each week, our analysts track the latest moves impacting our economy’s core stakeholders.

Several companies released new environmental initiatives timed with WEF’s sustainability theme, so we’re focusing on the ENVIRONMENT stakeholder this week:

 

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff announces 1t.org, a new World Economic Forum initiative with the goal of planting 1 trillion trees over the next 10 years.

 

Bank of America achieves carbon neutrality a full year earlier than anticipated, and Visa announces they’ve reached 100% renewable energy across the company.

 

Citigroup launches a $150 million Impact Investing Fund, focusing on workforce development, financial capability, physical and social infrastructure, and sustainability.

 

Starbucks announces that they are committing to a 50% reduction in carbon emissions, water withdrawal, and reduction in waste sent to landfills over the next 10 years.

 

Nestle plans to buy back more than 2 million tons of recycled plastic, at a cost of $1.6 billion, to reduce their footprint.

 

JUST Davos Dispatches:

 

Forbes: Reimagining Capitalism Talk with Paul, Alison, and Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg (start at the 2:51 mark).

 

CNBC Squawk Box: Paul in conversation with Andrew Ross Sorkin.

EY: Long-Term Value: Moving from Ambition to Action, with Paul and Global Chairman and CEO of EY, Carmine Di Sibio. (1st video)

WEF: Stakeholder Capitalism: Creating Common Standards for Corporate Governance, with Paul, Carmine Di Sibio, and Sarah Keohane Williamson, CEO of FCLTGlobal. (2nd video)

Where should CEOs and directors start when it comes to putting stakeholder capitalism into practice? Perform a financial distress test of your workforce to really understand what percentage of workers aren’t making enough to cover their bills each month.

 

REGISTER TODAY: Next Friday we host our latest Quarterly JUST Call, featuring Antonio Neri, President & CEO of HPE. The Call will focus on their exceptional environmental stewardship, strong performance on worker issues relating to diversity and inclusion, and more.