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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

David Olive on Obama’s odd choice in business gurus (in the Toronto Star)

David Olive's open letter to Obama in the Feb. 1, 2011, Toronto Star:

"Whoever’s advising you on senior economic appointments needs to be replaced.

"Last week you named Jeffery Immelt to head your new panel on jobs and competitiveness. Are you unaware that Immelt is one of the least-respected of Fortune 500 CEOs, having presided at GE over a 50 per cent drop in shareholder value?

"More to the point, this ostensible adviser on job creation has cut 11 per cent of GE’s workforce. And less than half those employees are located in the U.S., after years of Immelt’s relentless offshoring.

"Yesterday you appointed Steve Case to head your new Startup America Partnership to encourage entrepreneurship. Case authored the most spectacular business failure in modern U.S. history. ...

"In the main, businesspeople are unsuited to public service given their narrow obsession with the bottom line and their frustration when no longer able to act autocratically. I commend you for your bid at inclusiveness, but I expect it will end in tears."

Full article: Obama’s odd choice in business gurus.

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