Blah, blah, blah, blah…

PS–this applies in the classroom as well.

Props to Beyond Relevance with a hat tip to MTS.

Those of us who were lit majors have known it all along: The novel works better than academic literature to explain global problems. But now some economists are validating that notion.

“Despite the regular flow of academic studies, expert reports, and policy position papers, it is arguably novelists who do as good a job – if not a better one – of representing and communicating the realities of international development,”  says Dr. Dennis Rodgers from England’s Manchester University’s Brooks World Poverty Institute.

Stories sell ideas.

Today’s the day.

Photo by Vaguely Artistic

I watched this video with a few students last week and we were impressed with his easy presence and lack of pretense, not to mention that he now lives off only 10% of his income and gives away the remaining 90%.  He has used both his new-found affluence and influence to try to do some remarkable things–like work toward solutions for poverty and the global AIDS problem.  As this profile in the Wall Street Journal indicates, Rick Warren is not a fan of government solutions: ”There is only one way to get people out of poverty and it’s not charity. It’s jobs.”  Take a few minutes to enjoy this talk.

Handouts

• Resource List
• Time Tracker Worksheet

Links

• Stupid, Ugly, Unlucky, and Rich by Richard St. John
• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
• Getting Things Done by David Allen
• The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
• The Adventures of Johnny Bunko by Dan Pink
• 43folders.com
• diyplanner.com
• The Personal MBA Guide to Personal Master Planning
• “Flow” on Wikipedia
• “Is Multitasking More Efficient?” on APA Online

Slides

Shown below are the slides (with presenter’s notes) from the presentation.

Seth has also created a presentation to accompany the book, and it’s available on SlideShare.

This ninth biennial fiscal report card examines the tax and spending decisions made by the governors since 2003. It uses statistical data to grade the governors on their taxing and spending records – governors who have cut taxes and spending the most receive the highest grades, while those who have increased taxes and spending the most receive the lowest grades.

In my home state of Illinois, Gov. Rod Blagojevich received an “F,” with the second lowest score of on the list.  The report summarizes the governor’s efforts thusly:

Rod Blagojevich of Illinois has been singleminded in his drive for tax increases on businesses. In 2007, he pushed for a huge $7 billion tax hike in the form of a new business gross receipts tax and increased payroll taxes. That hike was the largest proposed or enacted increase of any governor in this report, measured in total dollars or as a percentage of current taxes. He has proposed schemes to wallop businesses nearly every year since 2003, including plans to raise taxes on refineries, gaming businesses, and software companies.  Blagojevich seems unaware that Illinois is competing against other states and nations for business investment in the global economy.

I hope you fared better than those of us in Illinois.  Unless you live in Maryland (which received the lowest overall grade), apparently you did.  Find your governor’s grade.