The Sex Appeal of Freight Rail
As President Obama prepares to address a joint session of Congress on job creation and the state of the economy, he would do well to consider casting a light on the freight rail industry in his remarks. Freight rail? Freight rail–a surprising pocket of growth, investment, hiring and innovation in the much-maligned US infrastructure network. [...]
Getting Down to Business
Over the past few months more than one observer has pointed to the cash-rich balance sheets of America’s large companies and asked why some of that money isn’t being put to use putting people back to work. The inevitable–and not entirely unreasonable–reply is that the tax, regulatory and trade environment in Washington is so muddled [...]
London is Calling
Last week, London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester burned. This week, as the UK cleans up and takes stock, a list of companies, organizations and individuals who should or could be tapped as partners to address the underlying issues and discontent that sparked the flames. This is a mix-and-match set of resources. In the spirit of BMW [...]
The Challenge of China
China is a hot potato. In March I wrote a note addressing the anxiety, complexity and–ultimately–benefits surrounding economic ties with China, specifically investment by Chinese companies in the United States. Since then, the 2012 US Presidential campaign has officially launched, and public rhetoric surrounding relations with China has heated up. The dialogue was punctuated last [...]
Hacking the City
Michael Bloomberg gets hacking. In a 1995 profile of Bloomberg, the company, Fast Company wrote: His theory is simple: shove lots of well-paid young upstarts (2,200 employees, average age 31) together in a small space for long hours, give them the best equipment possible, and you’ll get magic. It’s fitting then that in his role as [...]
Global Witness’s New Ground
Last week Global Witness–an NGO devoted to ferreting out corrupt use of natural resources in developing countries—got its hands on a management report from the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) and released it to the press. The LIA is the fund through which the Libyan government invested its oil profits—a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF). With just [...]
Paying Dividends
The Chinese are coming. If you believe recent hype, we’re keeping them out–or, on the other hand, if we’re not, we should be. Scratch below the surface, the story is–thankfully–more complex. The Chinese are coming–setting up shop here in the United States–via one of three routes: acquisition of US assets, building new plants from the [...]
Dynamic Times
This past Sunday morning in Doha, Qatar, Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva addressed the Al Jazeera Forum, a gathering of journalists, politicians, analysts, pundits and academics assembled annually for the last six years to discuss the dynamics of power and change in the Arab and Muslim worlds. The theme of this year’s [...]
Diplomatic Upstart
Independent Diplomat (ID) is an upstart in a world governed by tradition, long-standing, often opaque codes of conduct and large bi-lateral and multi-lateral bureaucracies–the world of international diplomacy. ID was founded in 2004 by former British Foreign Service officer Carne Ross (pronounced Cahrn) to respond to the needs of a new set of players entering [...]
Simply Brilliant
The price of a barrel of light, sweet crude is up almost 15% in the past week, flirting with $100 for the past two days. Even though Libya supplies less than 3% of the world’s oil, the violent turn to the demonstrations there has amplified the sense brought on by events in Tunisia and Egypt [...]
Seeking Balance
I like my news balanced. In this day and age of polarized, agenda-riddled commentary, balance is not always an easy thing to come by. Ferreting out intelligent, even-handed perspectives on matters of importance can turn into a full time endeavor, when soundbites, hidden and not-so-hidden bias rule the day. Which is why, over the last [...]
Future Perfect
What will the world look like in 2050? This is the question at the heart of Drivers of Change, a terrific planning and brainstorming device created by the Foresight and Innovation team of the London-based engineering firm Arup. Packaged in a sturdy, bright box, Drivers of Change is 175 cards posing pointed, forward-looking questions and [...]
Vital Energy
There’s nothing I love more than a maverick. By that measure, Boone Pickens has my heart. Trained geologist, Texas oilman, vintage corporate raider, 21st century billionaire investor and philanthropist, at 82 years old he’s going strong. And for the last two and a half years he’s been a visible, dynamic force focused on a topic [...]
