Item 2: I have just finished listening to the 17 audio discs of Thomas Friedman's book, Hot, Flat and Crowded. The main thrust of the book is to identify the global hazard we all face because of our dependence on oil, gas, and coal. For many overwhelming reasons, the world needs a new source of energy. Friedman also points out, and this is where you come in, that all this also creates great business opportunities. His example is a company in Ohio that for many years has been trying to produce and sell a solar energy system for domestic use. They had little success in getting enough volume to make it all work in this country. Then they discovered a market in Germany for their product and last year did a BILLION dollars of business. Norway, Sweden, and Denmark are now customers. Someone on your staff might want to research this and write a case on it. The automobile business is crying out for a new approach with a new product.
[…] I am sorry this letter is so long but thought it was important to reply to your letter.
Sincerely Yours,
—
… and I should note that other alumni had similar, but more pointed reactions to HBS's role:
Timing is everything. Light, “an expert on finance,” had his chance to call together these panels years ago, to research the “new, but untested, financial system,” unregulated as all get-out, filled with “trust me” and “I don’t really understand the math.” Light and his experts seem to understand it now. What new information did they get that was unavailable to HBS before?
Anyway, I'll be thankful for a return to honest business, if that's ever in the cards. And I'm thankful for my grandfather, still around, and still making sense.
may we all, including HBS, learn from him.
It is awesome that your grandfather is so with it at 100. I think it is also terrific he decided to reply with honesty instead of deference. The country needs to hear the truth, instead of the contant drumbeat that all is well. Please thank your grandfather for me. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving day.
tomorrow, would you ask your grandfather why he thinks the
stock market continues to rise in spite of constant bad news. It would be interesting to hear his take on it.
…for a semi-regular feature of “Ask Charley’s Grandfather”, lol.
What a blessing for your family and friends to have someone close to you who has lived as long as he has and so capable of sharing his wisdom and experiences so clearly.
Your grandfather might ask, if HBS is so smart then how did the endowment get taken for a disastrous ride by Bernie Madoff?
He told me that Obama had a dream, and that we needed someone with a dream.
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p> He wrote another letter this fall to HBS in response to their latest fund raising letter. He said that since they had not bothered to answer nor even acknowledge his letter, he felt no need to support the school. There has been no answer to that note either.