Integral Stock Exchange

I am a strong believer in the free market and the capitalist system.  Having said that we need to have measurements that ensure the economy is taking stock not only of financial capital put also our environmental and societal capital.  The wealth that is stored in the earth, its value, and the value of strong and vibrant societies.

Rather than evaluate company performance strictly via a financial exchange we also need to look at company performance on an environmental exchange and a societal exchange.  Today we have financial analysts make calls on a company's performance.  Financial experts judging the finances.  This translates into a stock price and its relative movement compared to competitors.  Maybe company A's stock is appreciating faster than company B's because the experts believe that A's earnings will increase faster than B's.

The environment and a corporation's social impact are starting to have more visibility and are now mentioned in some annual reports.  This is an improvement on history.  But it does not go far enough.  We should have environmental experts and experts on societal issues also evaluate a company and, on an exchange of some sort, evaluate companies in relative terms.  Company A's environmental stock would increase if experts believe, for example, that it will be reducing its pollution emissions at a faster pace than Company B.  Same would go for societal issues.   Company B's stock might go down if it were considered to not be contributing as much to the communities they operate in, by investing in them.  

Together these financial, environmental and societal exchanges would create an integral view of the company.  These exchanges would need to be weighed against each other in the correct proportions to create this integral view.  By holding the companies worth to these three pillars we might start seeing the quarter to quarter urgency that is so prevalent today in finance be applied to issues that are just as pressing as financial success.

It would be nice to see the Dow Jones, NASDAQ, FTSE 100, CAC 40 and Nikkei become broader measures that incorporate additional metrics.  These exchanges and the analysts who comment on finances have amazing powers over where money and effort is concentrated.

Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Banning Russian Teams and Athletes

Speaking Tuesday to legislators in London about Wimbledon, British Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said: "Absolutely nobody flying the flag for Russia should be allowed. Many of us would be willing and able to [allow them to] compete as non-aligned, non-flag-bearing entities. But I think it needs to go beyond that. We need some potential assurances that they are not supporters of Vladimir Putin and we are considering what requirements we may need to try and get some assurances along those lines." (source =  https://www.cbc.ca/sports/tennis/wimbledon-british-government-in-talks-about-russian-players-1.6386102 ) The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has sparked much debate in the world of sports.  Should Russian teams be banned from competing?  Should individual Russian athletes be banned?  Should teams of athletes be allowed to compete but without flag, uniform, country name, anthem, etc.? Some athletes have said that it is unfair to mix politics and sports.  They rightly state t
Read more

A Personal Request

To my readers, Yesterday I registered to run the 5K HSBC 2009 Childrun.  This is an event that is being held June 7, 2009 for the 24th year.  It raises funds to help provide care and treatment to children who suffer from cancer.  I consider it a worthwhile cause and I am therefore asking you to donate whatever you can.  Here is a link to my personal web page where you can make a donation.  Thanks in advance for your support. Olivier Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!
Read more

Ash Barty

The news that Ash Barty has taken the decision to retire at the age of 25 has caused many people to react.  Some understand, others question, others accuse.   Her decision has touched off a few ideas of my own. When is enough actually enough?  When do we decide we have enough?  When can we stop and just be content with what we have? At 25 she has achieved so much.  I have seen words accusing her of lack of character, of quitting or of not having the mental fortitude (one person I saw was wondering what was wrong with women's tennis?)  I think none of these people can really speak with any authority.  First of all most of these people, writing the drivel, can hardly speak from a place of success.  How many grand slams have they won?  How many tens of millions of dollars have they earned, how many weeks at number one have they spend and how well known are they in the world?   At some point, enough is enough.  I respect Ash Barty for taking a personal decision.  She has enough.  She h
Read more