On the free market
I’m not sure the people writing letters to the editor in support of the law banning state entities from doing business with financial companies offering environmental, social and governance (ESG) financial products really understand how a free-market capitalist economy works.
The companies offering ESG products to their customers are simply supplying a demand from their customers for these types of products. They still sell financial products investing in gun manufacturers and oil and gas companies. People who want to buy stock in an AR-15 gun manufacturer or oil company can do so through these companies. A person who wants to buy financial products supporting wind and solar energy companies, either as a matter of conscience or because they want in on the ground floor of emerging technologies they feel will yield a big profit, should be able to do so, too.
Anti-free-market is when a financial company selling a variety of financial products to fit the wants of their customers is now banned from working
with state entities. Our legislators voted in a law written by an out-of-state organization that harms the state’s ability to work with large financial companies to get the best interest rates on bond projects and the best rates of return on investments simply because the financial company offers a product that supports emerging technologies. Just in the next few years, this piece of legislation will cost taxpayers and government/teacher retirement plans tens of millions of dollars in potential savings and earnings by reducing the number of financial companies who compete for state business. Texas government entities lost
over $180 million in decreased annual earnings in 2022-2023 after passing a similar law a few years ago.
I hope our legislators actually read and think of the consequences of bills they pass in the future. The last legislative session saddled Arkansas with multiple laws, mostly written by out-of-state interest groups, that remove our rights and cause actual harm (i.e., disallowing local regulation of computer-server businesses). Please remember this when you vote in November. MISSY PLEDGER Fayetteville