February 22, 2021 BARRON’S 39
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The Next
Smart-Beta
Category?
To the Editor:
Kudos toBarron’sfor publishing your sustainability
rankings and highlighting the outperformance of the
companies on your list in recent years (“The 100 Most
Sustainable Companies,” Cover Story, Feb. 12).
I hope that the large environmental, social, and cor-
porate governance, or ESG, funds and exchange-traded
funds take notice of the delta between their holdings
and rankings such as these; otherwise, it’s possible
that any future underperformance may be driven by
factors outside of the ESG scope and the category may
become the next smart beta.
Dave Johnson
Brooklyn, N.Y.
To the Editor:
I was perplexed not to see on your list the most impor-
tant company in the first phase of the fight against cli-
mate change—Tesla. It’s dragging the world’s auto and
truck makers into the age of electric vehicles.
There will be (or already are) ripple effects to Big
Oil and Big Ag, which will be forced to change for the
betterment of the planet.
And Best Buy, a big-box reseller of
consumer electronics and consumer
durables, with more lives than a cat,
is No. 1?
John Norwood
West Des Moines, Iowa
To the Editor:
Have companies abandoned Milton
Friedman’s declaration that the sole
“social responsibility of business is to
increase its profits,” as Leslie P. Nor-
ton suggested? Quite the opposite, in
fact. Sustainable corporate actions
provide positive publicity while
avoiding a boycott against the com-
pany. The companies on your list are
acting in a publicly acceptable man-
ner in order to increase profits, just
as Friedman suggested.
Demetrius Pyo
Pittsburgh
Minimum Wages
To the Editor:
Although it is hard to refute that
raising the national minimum wage
could potentially cause job losses
for as many as 1.4 million people,
according to the Congressional Bud-
get Office, if that wage were raised
from $7.25 to $15 per hour, it is
equally challenging to assume that a
wage rate that was last adjusted
upward on July 24, 2009, should
not be upwardly adjusted as soon as
possible (“U.S. Minimum Wages
Have Already Jumped—With Mini-
mal Costs of Business,” The Econ-
omy, Feb. 12).
However, the cost of living varies
across the geographical locations
within the U.S., and taking such dif-
ferences into account when making
adjustments in the minimum wage
should go a long way toward mini-
mizing the potential job losses that
everyone brings up when debating
the pros and cons of raising the mini-
mum wage.
Bottom line: adjust the $15 na-
tional minimum wage for each state
based on that state’s cost of living.
Thus, states with lower COL will not
require the full $15, while higher
COL states will require a figure that
is closer to the $15 figure.
Anthony Chan
On Barrons.com
Moderna’s Prospects
To the Editor:
The Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech
vaccines have the same technology,
the same efficacy rates, and the same
cold-storage and distribution issues,
and both require a two-dose booster
regimen and are relatively easy to
modify for subsequent boosters to
deal with the inevitable mutations
(“How the Pandemic Is Changing the
Vaccine Industry,” Feb. 12).
The difference is that Moderna
has one technology and one ap-
proved product. In an industry
where Big Pharma and even biotech
stars like Gilead Sciences must ac-
quire smaller companies to have an
adequate pipeline, Moderna will be
bought out. The only question is
when and how much premium the
acquirer will pay.
In an era of loose, easy money, the
answer is probably sooner than you
think and more than you think is
reasonable.
Mark Perlsweig
On Barrons.com
Pot Stocks’ Future
To the Editor:
The fact that a significant percentage
of Americans (68%) support legaliza-
tion of cannabis doesn’t translate into
huge sales for any of these companies
(“Hot Money Has Lit Up the Canna-
bis Sector. Here are 4 Stocks to Try,”
Streetwise, Feb. 12).
Many people who were buying
occasionally from black market deal-
ers will probably continue with their
same source. Or maybe they will have
a delivery service bring them a few
joints.
But it’s not like tens of millions of
middle-age Americans are going to
become regular cannabis users over-
night just because it is legal.
Roughly 10% of the population
identifies as “regular users” (defined
as getting high once or twice a
month). Many people try it in their
youth, but most abandon it in
adulthood.
Long term, there will be federal
legalization and the big tobacco or
beverage companies will buy out the
small dispensaries. Once the novelty
that wears off, it will be just another
low-profit division of PepsiCo or
Philip Morris International.
Jason Winter
On Barrons.com
Mobius on Inflation
To the Editor:
I appreciate Mark Mobius’ views on
the flawed approach to measuring
inflation and how, using the current
system, inflation will be consistently
overstated (“Emerging Markets Will
Outperform After Covid, Longtime
Investor Mark Mobius Says,” Inter-
view, Feb. 12).
The result will be inappropriate
Federal Reserve policies that will
have a dampening effect on economic
growth. The Fed is slaying a dragon
that doesn’t exist.
Richard Kozak
On Barrons.com
“Adjust the $15 national minimum
wage for each state based on that
state’s cost of living.”
Anthony Chan, on Barrons.com