Mike --

Many thanks for offering these ideas up. I love the idea of high jumping for basis points too -- great expression.

I agree that there's some role for empowering regulators to address forced labor directly, whether through the IMF or The Hague. But there's a role for enlightened self-interest as well. There is already enough regulation facing the largest companies in specific jurisdictions that they should have their acts together or have a plan for getting there.

You may be interested to check out another article I just published on whether socially conscious investing boosts return (link below). I see how it could be rational to expect that there's no time for such pursuits in an increasingly competitive world, but in fact there's alpha there. Perhaps the inverse will be the case.

Whether alpha or just directional change, a really important thing is that the disclosure mechanism we've been using to have conversations about value and strategy for decades has within it the potential to address humanitarian concerns as well. Just think about the spillover effects of improved transparency in the human trafficking context -- they could be massive.

Cheers, all the best, and many thanks for reading.

Will

https://blogs.stage.cfainstitute.org/investor/2016/09/01/does-esg-boost…