The New York Times usefully brings together links of Professor Pausch's living legacy.
Has anyone ever made better use of their limited days on this earth? He bequeaths tremendous lessons in living, service and leadership, for which we can all be thankful.
Tom Friedman is spot on in his analysis of the significance of T. Boone Pickens' move to support long-term national policy for advanced technology energy.
Historian Arthur Herman has taken a powerful concept and turned it into an extraordinary book.
Gandhi and Churchill are titanic figures by any reckoning. Each of them both altered history--and was forced to adjust to and in some cases accept historic changes they resisted. Each illustrates the power that can be unleashed by an individual. Each also illustrates the sometimes tragic limitations of human endeavor.
As a student of Gandhi, and having read literally hundreds of books on Churchill, I found myself enthralled with Herman's artistry and command of history.
This book is a must-read for anyone in, or aspiring to, leadership. The lessons are applicable in any setting.
The book is a reminder that we should be able to admire historical figures of very different goals and accomplishments, finding our way to their common humanity and shared devotion to service.
T. Boone Pickens is picking up where four decades of American presidents have let us down: challenging the nation to take control of our destiny by bringing our scandalous, gluttonous dependence on foreign oil to an end.
His plan is a great stimulus to debate and action.
Pickens is also demonstrating a truism of 21st Century leadership: one can lead effectively outside of traditional positions of authority. He may well set the agenda for a President McCain or President Obama on this threshold issues from which so much else flows.
Time has a fine piece by Rick Stengel on Nelson Mandela's leadership approach. Mandela offers so many lessons in leadership and life, that it's hard to know where to start or stop...
With the legislature and Governor Schwarzenegger reportedly close to agreement on a massive tax increase package, the Wall Street Journal has a fine editorial summarizing California's fiscal calamity.
[L]ast week Toyota announced it is canceling plans to build its new Prius hybrid at its plant in the San Francisco Bay area because of the high tax and regulatory costs. Adding to the humiliation is that Toyota will now take this investment and about 1,000 jobs to a more progressive and pro-business state: Mississippi.
There is already a reverse gold rush going on in California and the evidence points powerfully toward high tax rates as a culprit. Census Bureau data show that, from 1996-2005, 1.3 million more Americans left than came to California. And the people who are leaving are disproportionately those with higher incomes: the very targets the Democrats want to tax more.
The liberal fairy tale is that the rich "don't pay their fair share." The reality is that there's no state in the country more dependent on six- and seven-figure earners to pay its bills. Those with incomes of more than $100,000 pay 83% of the state's income taxes, and the richest 6,000 of the 38 million Californians pay $9 billion in taxes. Every time a rich person like Tiger Woods departs, the state fiscal problem deepens.
Lest other states become complacent, it's worth emphasizing that Arizona state government is currently running an operating deficit of similar magnitude to California on a percentage basis. Real spending has surged by almost a third in the past three years alone.
I was privileged to be a participant in an innovation workshop at the Global Business Network in San Francisco at the end of last week. Olaf Groth led a two-day brainstorming session for a sophisticated client. The value added by Olaf, as well as Peter Schwartz, Eamon Kelly and other GBN team members was extraordinary, and the group they assembled contributed a range of perspectives spanning various disciplines and generations.
Though one can never forecast with certainty, the capacity to discern scenarios--and apply history to better face the future--can be of immense value. All the more at this moment of tremendous global change and tumult.
Eagle-eyed Stephen Moore has the latest figures on tax burden in the USA in the Wall Street Journal:
My contacts at the Treasury Department tell me that for the first time in decades, and perhaps ever, the richest 1% of tax filers will have paid more than 40% of the income tax burden. The top 50% will account for 97% of all federal income taxes, while the bottom 50% will have paid just 3%.
The Obama campaign has promised to increase tax revenues to dramatically to finance a range of new programs--including national health care--and claims that will not require any new taxes on people making under $250,000 in a year (although they have also proposed lifting the Social Security wage cap).
There's every reason to assume that raising taxes significantly on the most enterprising will have deleterious economic consequences--especially hitting the entrepreneurial, independent business sector.
Wouldn't it make more sense to tax consumption rather than income creation? If a billionaire creates more wealth, including saving and investment, we all benefit. On the other hand, consumption has fewer social benefits and may make much more sense to tax.
Forbes catalogs the issues raised by the confluence of Sarbanes-Oxley regulatory regime with increased regulatory oversight of carbon footprints.
Bottom line: corporate boards and officers must factor carbon footprint into business planning--accompanied by effective disclosure to relevant stakeholders.
Bloomberg reports on General Motors' travails:
The company's current market value is smaller than that of Mattel Inc., maker of Matchbox cars, and a 10th of what it was in 2000. A Merrill Lynch analyst said yesterday that a GM "bankruptcy is not impossible if the market continues to deteriorate.''
Wow. The company that makes Hummers has a lower market cap than the company that makes Matchbox cars.
There might be a message in that, Mr. Wagoner. Ya think?!
