This BlackRock left-wing conspiracy theory has more to it than meets the eye

Congressional Republicans alleged this week that a vast left-wing conspiracy in the machinery of corporate governance is pushing a progressive agenda.

A House Judiciary Committee report accused blue-state pension funds, climate nonprofits, global alliances, activist investors, and giant money managers including BlackRock and Vanguard, of forming an illegal cartel to force companies to cut their carbon emissions, set diversity quotas, and curb their political contributions.

It’s the latest jab in the fight over corporate boardrooms. A leftward shift in the mid-2010s, turbocharged by #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, receded under a conservative backlash aided by economic turbulence that refocused executives on the bottom line. As financial performance retakes center stage for companies and investors, the furor has mostly been pushed to the partisan edges, and a close reading of the House report shows this fight has always been more commercial than ideological.