Final Word from Tuesday, August 14, 2018
As the world goes to hell, there's a growing trend for people and companies to hold up their hands and say, "Hey, it ain't my fault!" Some of them go so far as to deny their past by becoming green, corruption-free or ethical. Česká spořitelna's pension company has done all three by launching an Ethical Pension Savings plan that won't invest into arms, tobacco, nuclear power, mining, food speculation, GMOs, companies using child labor or corrupt companies. "What's left?" you might ask. Oh, nor will it invest into U.S. T-bills or those of any other country with the death penalty. When the Norwegian pension/wealth fund excluded ČEZ early last year from its investment palette, it was a hypocritical case of fossil-fuel denial, but the fund was otherwise consistent in its application of the rules. What about ČS's pension product? How can it refuse to buy ČEZ shares, when its parent still does business with ČEZ? ČS's pension plan is ethically minded, but the bank itself isn't? [Czech Republic socially responsible investing investment weapons defense cigarettes energy mines]
Glossary of difficult words
ain't - am not, is not, are not; grammatically incorrect but used in both speech and writing to catch attention and to gain emphasis;
arms - weapons;
T-Bills - short for Treasury bill; a short-dated government security;
palette - a range, quality or use of available elements;
minded - inclined to think in a particular way.