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Emergent Politics. Some Numbers, Please.
What does electoral emergence look like? Consider: We just re-elected a Democrat President who will need to work with a Republican House and Democrat Senate. Or viewed differently: the people have said that they want a divided government (as Speaker Boehner suggested), not an unimpeded move towards a more progressive agenda. Or did they? The Presidency […] Read More
Unemployment Data Minus the Conspiracy Theory
You know the saying: lies, damn lies, and statistics. Now add: political statistics. Friday’s jobless rate is either good news, terrible news, or made up news (shameful, Jack Welch). I decided to do a bit of fact checking to see what I could come up with. To put things in a bit of historical context, […] Read More
Presidential Debate: Focus on Inclusivity
If I were hosting the upcoming presidential debate on domestic policy, what questions would I ask? They would center on inclusivity: How can we challenge the economic beliefs that are holding back our economy? How can we include the poor as a source of resourcefulness, innovation, and business opportunity? How can we better identify and […] Read More
Americans Love Socialism
The Atlantic just ran a nice article in which it reported an interesting survey it had conducted. In the survey, respondents (only Americans) were shown two nations’ wealth distributions–one like Sweden’s (but even more equitable); and one like the United States’s–and asked to choose which country they’d rather live in. Respondents preferred the country with […] Read More
Sandwiches against Madness
I’m in London before heading tomorrow to Oxford for a colloquium on social entrepreneurship. I stopped at a British food shop, Prêt a Manager, which offers advice about addressing hunger that is as eloquent as any paper I’m likely to read at the Oxford gathering. Simple advice of the kind we’d all be much better […] Read More
Diamonds, Dimons, and Our Money
Driving on the highway, I saw a bumper sticker surely announcing that the political season is upon us: R omney–the R being a flaggy, red and blue affair set off from the rest of the name. Not a big leap to create an anagram: R money, and from that Our money. Which brings up the […] Read More
How I’ve Been Spending My Summer “Vacation” (so far)
How I’ve Been Spending My Summer “Vacation” (so far) By Michael Gordon Back in the saddle, writing this blog after more than a month away. (NOTE to self: see if blogging saddles are the next great investment.) What’s been going on? 1. Drafted a new book on creating Inclusivity in the United States. The […] Read More
Awethu: Imported to Detroit?
By Michael Gordon As anyone reading this space knows (anyone? anyone? I can read your comments if you click the “(No) Comments” link above, you know), I’ve been thinking a lot about Detroit. And I think it’s fair to say that, once foreign cars began to arrive in the United States, and then gain wide […] Read More
Detroit, Bar BQ, and Ponyride
By Michael Gordon 2 Comments Phillip Cooley opened a restaurant in Detroit, Slows Bar BQ. Slows anchors a block in Detroit’s Corktown, a row of shops which is changing from seedy to hip. Cooley opened Slows with some backing from his parents, his own carpentry skills, and the sweat equity of his partners–who were also his chef and […] Read More
A World of Empathy
By Michael Gordon 1 Comment I spent last week at the Skoll World Forum in Oxford, a gathering of social entrepreneurs bent on changing the world. Ask them what’s on their mind, you will often hear “scale.” After all, isn’t helping more people better than helping fewer? (And to get investment funding or donations, you […] Read More
