You’re a Puppet, Barefoot

Scott,

I read last week’s column. You’re pushing Vanguard?! Oh you really are an elitist WEF puppet.

Eva

Hello Eva (name unchanged),

Thank you for your comment. I always enjoy the nasty ones that get me Google-ing.

Turns out, ‘WEF’ stands for the World Economic Forum, and the conspiracy theory you seem to be alluding to is known as the ‘Great Reset’, which suggests that a secret group of capitalists and politicians are trying to control the economy.

Now, Eva, I really don’t know if that’s much of a secret — isn’t that just what sociopath billionaires and power-hungry politicians kind of, well, do?

Yet I have to pull you up for putting Vanguard in the same pot. If anything, it’s the exact opposite. Jack Bogle set up Vanguard in the 1970s to stick it to the Wall Street capitalists. He could have become a billionaire but instead chose to put investors first, so he set it up as a not-for-profit. Vanguard created the first index fund and has driven fees down for all investors the world over ever since.

Scott.