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Socialists are taking over Wall Street
It does not happen every day that when reading the Wall Street Journal, I have to double-check that I did not accidentally click on the Onion web page. Or that it was not an April Fools’ Day prank. No, it was Dec. 1, 2020, and the report was about the Nasdaq’s proposal to advance diversity through a new listing requirement.
Nasdaq leaders read scientific studies showing that companies with women and minorities on their boards of directors perform better than those dominated by white males. Full of good intentions, they decided to push corporations listed on their exchange to make their boards more diversified. By that, they mean “to have at least one director who self-identifies as a female, (…) at least one director who self-identifies as Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx, Asian, Native American or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, two or more races or ethnicities, or as LGBTQ+.” On its own, Nasdaq does not have the powers to implement these rules. For that, it needs a decree from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 271 pages of lingo contain the draft of the proposed regulation and its method of enforcement.
Science tells us that good-looking people, especially those with decorum, get better jobs and advance faster. For someone short, fat, having crossed eyes or Asperger’s syndrome, it can be more challenging to…