McKinsey Quarterly just published this interview in which Economist Nicholas Stern says that we should use the economic crisis to address climate change.

“We need to have a reflationary package, which lays the foundation for future growth. And if we look into the future, it’s actually quite exciting. Because what we see is the biggest technological opportunity that we’ve had for a very long time: as big as the railways, as big as electricity, as big as the motorcar, and, most recently, information technology. It’s the opportunity to go for low-carbon growth.”

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The blogosphere’s theme for the remainder of 2009 should be the Rahm Doctrine. Clearly we are in the middle of a pretty major economic crisis. Hopefully it won’t last much longer than 2009.  I also think we are in the middle of a more subtle social crisis that will likely go on for much longer. Don’t believe me? Think about the climate, income inequality, healthcare, increasing global conflict, rising food prices.

With so much in the way of crisis going on right now, according to the Rahm Doctrine at least, there should be plenty of opportunities. Especially for entrepreneurs.We’ve already highlighted a few of these opportunities, and will continue to do so.  Other bloggers are doing the same (everyone from Gary Vaynerchuk to Paul Krugman)

President Obama in his weekly address this morning confirmed this belief. What we’re going to see in the coming months is a global willingness to try new ideas out, mostly because many of the old ideas are broken. And we’re already seeing signs of it.  Americas workforce is switching sectors. We are investing in our homes to increase their efficiency (and stave off loss in value). For a great article on what some of the coming changes could be, check out this months Atlantic.

And if you have your own ideas of opportunities within crisis please share them with us. One of our favorites is here.

Quick - Post
Fast Company’s piece on Marine Energy is a good introduction to an area that’s often overlooked in our search for renewable energy.

Check it out here http://tinyurl.com/b9v4y4

I was catching up on old episodes of marketplace and heard a piece on the cotton industry and the subsidies they receive in order to keep up with China.  That’s usually enough to send me foaming at the mouth. Subsidies hurt small businesses,  and distort our expectations.  However, the end of the interview brought some insight from Blanton Godfrey (College of Textiles at N.C. State) that gave me hope for the American entrepreneur.

Historically, the US textile industry has been subsidized through import caps.  This helps limit supply and artificially float the price so that American Producers and Chinese producers are roughly at the same price. In the short run this might seem like a good thing, but in the long run there are significant costs.

Although textile production in the US has long been shrinking, it’s also been getting more specialized. Instead of socks and underwear, our producers now make specialized fabrics that are used in fire retardant tents for the US Airforce. Read the rest of this entry »