It’s bad for business Semafor reports that this bullshit is starting to cost real money: Last year, Republican-controlled legislatures began passing laws blacklisting state investment funds from doing business with money managers that pushed what they deemed to be liberal agendas, like boycotting gun manufacturers and mining companies. BlackRock, run by Larry Fink, an outspoken supporter of so-called ESG principles, has taken the brunt of the pressure, with at least 10 states pulling their money from his firm or threatening to. “If Larry or his friends on Wall Street want to change the world — run for office,” Florida’s chief financial officer said in December, when he announced the state would pull $2 billion out of BlackRock, which he accused of running a “social-engineering project” with clients’ cash. A chorus of state governors, treasurers, and attorneys-general joined in, and the American Legislative Exchange Council, a test kitchen for conservative legislatures, outlined model bills that statehouses could propose. In recent months, though, several campaigns have failed even in conservative strongholds, and studies have calculated the financial cost to these ideological stances. They include: -Indiana’s budget office found that a bill forcing state pension funds to divest from “woke” money managers would cost $6.7 billion over the next decade in sub-market returns, forcing retirees to increase their paycheck contributions. -Executives in charge of one of Kentucky’s retirement funds sent a letter last week to the state’s treasurer, arguing that a recent law requiring them to pull money from BlackRock and 10 other firms deemed…