Praise for Profit vs. Progress:

“Swanson has written an invaluable critique of the failure of the social investing model he himself practices, and argues provocatively that only legislation, not market forces, can transform investing into a social good. Brave man!”

--James Sterngold, award-winning former correspondent, The New York Times, author of Burning Down the House

“Swanson sets out in crisp, clear analytic detail how socially conscious investors are often misled by corporate and financial professionals. Using his extensive experience in international investment, Swanson importantly points to possible ways forward.”

  -- Robert Sharer, MBA, CFP, Assistant Director (rtd) International Monetary Fund

“Even as he professes a deep love of capitalism, Brad Swanson delivers a devastating take-down of ESG investing and rips the fig leaf from the voluntary carbon market. Swanson’s insider expertise and his vivid prose make Profit vs. Progress a must-read, especially for those laboring under the illusion that corporations will put aside greed and undertake climate action of their own volition.”

--Dr. Vivian Thomson, Retired Professor of Environmental Policy, University of Virginia, author of Climate of Capitulation: An Insider’s Account of State Power in a Coal Nation and Sophisticated Interdependence in Climate Policy        

“Brad Swanson's book is the first to provide a complete, honest and sobering look at how the ESG/impact investing movement failed to make any credible/meaningful change in the social, environmental and governance space.”

--Dr. Derek Horstmeyer, Professor of Finance, Costello College of Business at George Mason University

 "Perhaps the most important question of our time is how we reconcile the laws and regulations around investments and corporations with our commitments to our planet, our democracy, and our human equality. In Profit vs. Progress, Brad Swanson has made an important contribution to answering this question by not only explaining how our investments have so often failed to make a better world, but also by showing how we can do better."

--Brendan Ballou, former Special Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice, author of Plunder

“Swanson’s incisive book provides an insider’s view into how socially responsible investment fails to live up to its unrealistic promises. The crux of the problem: Investors’ unwillingness to exchange financial for social return.”

--Jeff Fuhrer, Nonresident Fellow, Brookings Institution, author of The Myth That Made Us

“Swanson provides important historical perspective of the rise of sustainable finance and impact investing; a practical dose of skepticism about some of the fads; and a cautiously optimistic view based on lessons learned from his highly readable perspectives.”

--Brian L. Trelstad, Senior Lecturer, Harvard Business School, Faculty Chair, Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative