by Frank Altman (Author)
Invest With Social Responsibility, It Can Be A Tool For Good
In 1977, two years after I graduated from Brown University, college students around the country launched a movement against Apartheid. Their campaign focused on divestment: convincingAmerican corporations to sell shares of companies doing business with South Africa's Apartheid government. The foundation of their argument was moral and straightforward, that no one should profit from a system that brutally oppresses people. By the mid-1980s, the divestment campaign became made pariahs of the companies still willing to transact with the Apartheid regime. Reflecting on the movement, in 2010 Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote, "We could not have achieved our freedom and just peace without the help of people around the world, who through the use of non-violent means, such as boycotts and divestment, encouraged their governments and other corporate actors to reverse decades-long support for the Apartheid regime." Socially responsible investing is rooted in the recognition that money, because it holds power in people's imaginations, can be a tool for accomplishing good.Back Jacket
Investing for Impact: Working Together We Can Create an Economy that Works for All
American capitalism has built an economy of abundance unrivaled in human history, but along the way it has stumbled. Private enterprises working only to maximize profits has contributed to a crisis of societal and environmental problems. Recent events -- the murder of George Floyd, the severe market disruptions caused by COVID-19, the growing acceptance that markets will be transformed by global climate change -- have sparked social upheavals that have exposed the fragility of financial markets and the inequities that have always been present within them.
Building on a career of innovative market approaches that create opportunity to fund businesses and housing for those often left behind, Frank Altman has written a book that can help markets survive recent turmoil while doing good for far more people. Moreover, Altman has proven that good can be accomplished while preserving highly profitable investment opportunities. A New Capitalism is a must-read book for those in the financial sector, filled not just with thoughtful analysis but with pragmatic market solutions. From an industry leader who was shaping market responses to ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investing long before it was a recognized term, A New Capitalism is the book that can lead the financial industry into the future and expand the reach of capitalism.