And another thought: A failure of diversity in the Obama team

Talking to Hank Greenberg I am reminded that among America’s strengths are business people who stand up to adversity, face problems and never stop looking for solutions. Each reader can form their own opinion of Greenberg. Mine, having watched him for decades, remains high. Beyond that, listening to him discuss the economy from the context ...

Talking to Hank Greenberg I am reminded that among America's strengths are business people who stand up to adversity, face problems and never stop looking for solutions. Each reader can form their own opinion of Greenberg. Mine, having watched him for decades, remains high. Beyond that, listening to him discuss the economy from the context of someone who has built a business, created tens of thousands of jobs, grown his company in good times and bad, it reminded me that the one group that has yet to make it into the top echelons of the Obama Administration is the one group that might be most useful in times like these -- real businesspeople.

Talking to Hank Greenberg I am reminded that among America’s strengths are business people who stand up to adversity, face problems and never stop looking for solutions. Each reader can form their own opinion of Greenberg. Mine, having watched him for decades, remains high. Beyond that, listening to him discuss the economy from the context of someone who has built a business, created tens of thousands of jobs, grown his company in good times and bad, it reminded me that the one group that has yet to make it into the top echelons of the Obama Administration is the one group that might be most useful in times like these — real businesspeople.

There is not one businessperson in the Obama cabinet, just a few elsewhere in the top ranks of government. We have academics. We have politicians. We have lawyers galore. We even, thankfully, have a few bona fide scientists. 

But when the primary metric for judging the economic success of this administration is going to be creating jobs, we don’t have anyone who has actually created a job. Now, we hear that New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg is the likely choice as Commerce Secretary and while it is encouraging that he is a Republican, a sound-thinking budget specialist and also a former governor, so he has actually run something, this would have been a good slot for a businessman. In fact, if the decision has not yet been finalized, a terrific pick would have been Carlos Gutierrez — the current Commerce Secretary, a former CEO of the Kellogg Company — who has been one of the two or three best Commerce Secretaries ever. Or Obama’s regular advisor Eric Schmidt of Google. And if the decision is done…well, it would really benefit the team if it were enriched with a few people with the kind of practical experience that will be needed to retool and rebuild the economy. 

David Rothkopf is visiting professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His latest book is The Great Questions of Tomorrow. He has been a longtime contributor to Foreign Policy and was CEO and editor of the FP Group from 2012 to May 2017. Twitter: @djrothkopf

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