Embedded Files
Wall Street promises that sustainable finance can make the world better while making investors rich. But in reality, "doing well by doing good" is a myth.
A new book by an insider pulls aside the curtain.
Profit vs. Progress, to be published by MIT Press in April 2026, shows that socially responsible investing fails to live up to its name-- despite attracting trillions of dollars from credulous investors.
The sustainable finance industry flourishes by selling the dream of having it all. But when it comes to real social progress -- slowing climate change or easing the hardships that blight the lives of billions -- sustainable finance doesn't deliver.
The book shows that businesses can be made more sustainable -- without blunting their edge. Capitalism can be consistent with corporate social responsibility. But, as in previous periods of crisis, the rulebook will require some revising.
Profit vs. Progress: Why Socially Responsible Investment Doesn’t Work and How to Fix It will be published on 7 April 2026 by MIT Press.
Endorsements for Profit vs. Progress
"A devastating takedown of [sustainable] investing"
"An invaluable critique of the failure of the social investing model"
"Show[s] how we can do better "
The author is an insider
Brad Swanson has managed dozens of private equity investments in sustainable businesses in developing countries for more than two decades. His hallmark is deep involvement in governance, typically serving on the board of directors, as well as leading the entry and exit investment transactions.
Brad started his career as a reporter for The Miami Herald, after graduating from Princeton University with a BA in History. He then became a Foreign Service Officer, serving tours of duty in American embassies in Senegal and Liberia, as well as in Washington DC.
Brad then changed focus to finance, graduating with an MBA from Columbia University and joining a Wall Street investment banking firm. From New York, he moved to London, where he spent nine years, mainly running investment banking in Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa for Banque Nationale de Paris. After returning to the US, he segued from mainstream international finance to sustainable investing, travelling widely in Latin America, Asia and Africa to manage the portfolio.
Currently, he splits his time between writing and public speaking, managing investments, and teaching courses in socially responsible finance as an adjunct professor at both George Mason University and George Washington University..
Google Sites
Report abuse