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A new book, written by an insider, explodes the myth that that so-called sustainable investing makes the world better.
Millions of individuals and families, as well as financial institutions, have invested trillions of dollars in socially responsible finance in the hope of "doing well by doing good." But the emperor has no clothes.
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. Worse, by distracting our attention, it gives corporations cover to continue their blind pursuit of profit, to the detriment of people and the planet.
The book shows how to make business more sustainable, without diminishing economic freedom. Capitalism and corporate social responsibility aren't contradictions. We can learn from the examples of previous eras. It is time, once again, to revise the rulebook and make the game more fair.
The book is written for a general audience. Financial expertise not required!
Profit vs. Progress: Why Socially Responsible Investment Doesn’t Work and How to Fix It was published on 7 April 2026 by MIT Press.
Selected by Publishers Weekly
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 writes as an insider
Brad Swanson 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 in American Embassies in several countries in Africa.
He then changed his focus to finance, earning an MBA from Columbia University and joining a Wall Street investment bank. From New York, he moved to London and ran investment banking in Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa for Banque Nationale de Paris.
After returning to the US, he moved into sustainable investing, managing a portfolio of private equity investments in sustainable businesses in developing countries for a niche fund manager.
Currently, he splits his time between writing and public speaking, managing sustainable investments, and teaching courses in socially responsible finance as an adjunct professor at George Mason University and George Washington University..
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