By Elizabeth Clark. Just over a year ago I went to an International Women’s Day event in Frome, Somerset. The key speaker was Lynne Franks, OBE, who spoke about her life as a business entrepreneur and her beliefs about enabling others to cultivate their own work opportunities. Currently she has a base in Wincanton, Somerset,
According to the SBA; as of 2018, 99.9% of US businesses are small businesses which employ more than 47.5% of the private workforce in the US. A new survey of more than 5,800 small business owners by Harvard Business School paints a dismal picture of America’s current small-business viability. Forty-three percent of firms are temporarily
Elizabeth Clark (BSc Hons Open, MA TESOL Bath) and John Hoffmire, Chairman of the Center on Business and Poverty and the Carmen Porco Chair of Sustainable Business at the Center. As Covid-19 continues impacting on both the health and economies of nations around the world, it is perhaps time to focus on how to occupy
The American people are no strangers to the spirit of charitable giving. A phenomenal figure from Charity Navigator shows that as many as 50 percent of American households donated money when the 2010 earthquake devastated Haiti. This giving accumulated to $1.4 billion. Another example of American goodness was the $1.6 billion donated to victims of
A “necessity entrepreneur” is an individual who starts a business not because they recognize an opportunity to make money, but because there is no other option to make a living. Sadly, billions of people in the developing world with little access to education or reliable jobs are in this position. Their microbusinesses are often simple.
Usually there are reasons to celebrate when a country strikes oil. Nevertheless, many countries will end up substantially worse than if they wouldn’t have found anything. According to Michael Ross[1], oil-rich countries such as Gabon and Iraq, experienced an income decline of 45 and 85 percent respectively, from 1980 to 2006. Moreover, oil-rich countries are
All societies have problems. I am sure this is not a shock to anyone. Neighbors have disputes, poverty exists and inequality grows. Simply put, if each individual of a society is imperfect, so too is society, and since no one is perfect, we each play a part in making society imperfect. And like people, institutions
One of the most recognizable myths from ancient Greece is the tale of King Midas. For those unfamiliar with the story, King Midas received a wish from the god Dionysus that he used to have everything he touched turn into gold. At first delighted, Midas quickly realized the folly of his decision after he was
Len Greenhalgh is Professor of Management, Emeritus at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire. Dartmouth College was founded in 1769 with a royal charter to serve Native Americans and European settlers in New England. The college’s emphasis on diversity and inclusion has continued ever since. Greenhalgh took a faculty position
By John Hoffmire Across the United States, it is not uncommon to see billboards and advertisements for a local lottery. These are often joined by other joint lotteries, some of which cover several states. While the variety is seemingly endless, all the ads and sponsorships of the games share one trait: a warning. Often found
By John Hoffmire Traditional investors often put money into companies focused mainly on the returns they will see, while many nonprofits and government agencies provide funding for programs in return for measurable social impact. Impact investing attempts to join business and social concerns. The point of impact investing is to fund companies that not only generate
By John Hoffmire Those answering this question seem to have become more and more optimistic over the past several decades. Major advances in technology, education, healthcare and business practices have led to reduced poverty rates around the world. Although victory is still a long way off, it seems that we have a fighting chance in the
By John Hoffmire The beacon of development often conjures up images of radical innovations, disruptive models and leapfrog technologies. And yet, as nations attempt to embrace the promises of development, there is often a colossal failure of both imagination and execution in providing for even the most basic of human needs. Measurable social change, ensuring
The core of the American Dream — equality of opportunity and rewards commensurate with efforts and abilities — has enchanted millions of people across the globe. However, it is important to assess whether the reality bears out that ideal. Although two-thirds of Americans (69 percent) agree with the statement that “people are rewarded for intelligence
In the last 50 years, family structures have changed dramatically. Just half a century ago, 75 percent of children lived in a home with two married parents in their first marriage. Today, less than half of children are raised in such a traditional situation, and more than a third are raised by single parents. This
Uber, Craigslist, eBay, Airbnb; you know them, you may use them, they are all part of the shared economy. The concept is simple enough. Market your assets to peers in the informal cyber marketplace. Maria, a former wedding photographer, has a closet chock full of camera equipment, four small kids and a growing stack of
In a recent column, I asked readers to write in with ideas about how full employment would influence the debate about inequality in the U.S. Since the column was published, eradicating poverty and trying to address inequality have been even more ever present in the spotlight as issues to be addressed in meaningful ways. Many
In the past 10 years, rates of extreme poverty have been halved, from 15.7% in 2010 to 7.7% in 2019, according to statistics from the World Bank and World Poverty Clock. Although this is not enough, it still demonstrates a significant global accomplishment. In 1990, extreme poverty was defined as subsisting on one dollar per day.
Social Security policy is unsustainable in its current form. What has consumed a significant portion of America’s paychecks and helped sustain a significant portion of America’s seniors is destined for change. In 2019, the trustees of the Social Security program released a report predicting that all of the trust fund’s reserves would run out by
A “necessity entrepreneur” is an individual who starts a business not because they recognize an opportunity to make money, but because there is no other option to make a living. Sadly, billions of people in the developing world with little access to education or reliable jobs are in this position. Their microbusinesses are often simple.
