Green Options » The Economist

What The Heck Is An Obamapreneur?

Reenita Malhotra — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:33:27 +0000

The English language has a wonderful way of evolving with major or minor events in the economic, social and political history of man. Following the release of words like “Mompreneur” and “Ecopreneur”, the latest buzzword that is floating around the business and economic sphere is “Obamapreneur.” While it is clear that all “Preneur” roads lead to a noble business mission but what the heck is an Obamapreneur?

President Obama is clearly the man of the moment and although running a business is not officially part of his resume, entrepreneurs are closely examining the way he has run his campaign, and now the country, to model their business strategy after his. Barry Libert and Rick Faulk, authors of “Barack, Inc: Winning Business Lessons of the Obama Campaign” point out three lesson to entrepreneurs based upon what they have seen in President Obama’s campaign:

What Is the The Value of Water: An Online Debate By The Economist

Reenita Malhotra — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:34:54 +0000

While we all know that there is no free lunch, reality is that very soon there might be no free water either. As both an industrial input and a prerequisite of life, water has become extremely scarce for roughly a billion people who do not have a constant supply of clean and safe water, so the issue is of extreme importance.

On September 30th, The Economist started a two-week long Oxford-style online debate on the value of water.

The proposition: “This house believes that water, as a scarce resource, should be priced according to its market value.”

Tech Today or Tech Tomorrow? Energy Debate 1

Michelle Bennett — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 06:30:36 +0000

The “Economist” debate involves journalists, industry gurus, investors, bureaucrats, and of course economists who have all long been involved in renewable energy. The question:

“Can we solve our energy problems with existing technologies today, without the need for breakthrough innovations?”

This is the defining question of our time.

New innovations, improvements, or breakthroughs are happening all the time in clean tech, especially among renewable energy technologies. Yet technological limitations still plague the various industries. These hurdles include energy storage, energy efficiency, transmission infrastructure and technology, hydrogen power, CO2 capture and sequestration, and producing bio-fuels at an industrial scale. Economics is also a potent issue that both hampers and launches these technologies, hence the host of this debate.