by andthenisawtheblood
Really curious to hear some of your thoughts on this, as I’ve seen “ethical investing” come up from time to time. Here’s a couple articles on the subject:
Google Won’t Seek to Renew Pentagon Contract After Internal Backlash (Short WSJ article)
How a Pentagon Contract Became an Identity Crisis for Google (Long NYT article)
I think this is beyond the usual cigarette/gun/prison stocks. I had read an article in Barron’s awhile ago arguing that pension funds, etc. who are divesting from gun stocks as a response to shootings are wrong because their primary responsibility is to fund pensions/etc., not take a moral stand for a certain percentage of their investors, at a loss of potential gains.
I’m reading that the letter was signed by about 4000 employees, which would be 4.7% of their employees. Should 4.7% of a company’s employees, who may or may not be varying degrees of shareholders, impact potential lucrative business decisions? From the WSJ article:
Just as some employees have protested Google’s work with the government, others expressed concern that the opinions of low-level employees shouldn’t have a bearing on the company’s business contracts.
Do you think the support or opposition to (potentially lethal) government contracts would impact recruiting/retention? Obviously the west coast is a lot different than the east coast, where defense contractors make a more positive impact on the local economy.
Here is the full text of the letter which was released back in April.
Disclaimer: This content does not necessarily represent the views of IWB.