Adlai Stevenson once said that political hypocrites would cut down sequoia trees and climb the stumps to give speeches pleading for conservation.
When we heard Indiana State Treasurer Daniel Elliott proudly announce that he would invest an additional $5 million in Israeli bonds, bringing the state’s total investment in the U.S. ally to $110 million, we I thought about it.
As treasurer and chief investment officer, Elliott oversees a portfolio worth approximately $17 billion in Indiana assets.
Although S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service have downgraded Israel’s credit scores due to geopolitical risks in the Middle East, investments in Israeli bonds are still considered reliable barring political considerations. .
But since this bond purchase by Indiana is a conscious political act to support Israel, let’s return to the “politically insensitive” subordination clause.
While support from foreign governments that are considered allies is not an issue for this message board, we believe it may be an issue for some readers.
In fact, if Elliott wants to use some of the state’s money to support environmental, social, and corporate governance issues, and that also has good returns for Hoosiers, he should do it now.
Oh, wait, Elliott and the supermajority told us there was no room for such politically motivated spending of the people’s assets. As someone who helped eliminate “woke” investing as part of a national strategy, Mr. Elliott inadvertently and farcically claimed it.
Israel is one of the world’s leaders in developing innovative water, agricultural and renewable energy technologies to increase resilience to climate change. Ironically, because of the supermajority’s actions in 2023, this state will no longer be able to invest in Israeli companies that are doing great work, no matter how good the return on investment.
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