Innovation and Israel

Am posting two recent outstanding national columns everyone should read.

The first is directly relevant to our region. Readers of this blog will not be surprised that it is from Tom Friedman. The basic idea is that new jobs come not from the government or big companies, but from new and mid-sized companies focused on innovation. An excerpt:

That said, I think part of the business community’s complaint about Obama has merit. Although there are many “innovation” initiatives ongoing in this administration, they are not well coordinated or a top priority or championed by knowledgeable leadership. This administration is heavily staffed by academics, lawyers and political types. There is no senior person who has run a large company or built and sold globally a new innovative product. And that partly explains why this administration has been mostly interested in pushing taxes, social spending and regulation — not pushing trade expansion, competitiveness and new company formation. Innovation and competitiveness don’t seem to float Obama’s boat. He could use a buoyant growth strategy.

Retiring State Rep. Bob Smith is one of the great champions of innovation in our region, and organizations at UGA like the bio-business center are also hubs of innovation. The Georgia Research Alliance (a client of my company) is also a key to Georgia's innovation strategy. Check out the full column here.

The second is not directly relevant to our region, but certainly is to the world. I'm guessing that many of you, like me, follow Middle Eastern policy issues peripherally if at all. I found this to be a succinct if one sided overview of the compromises Israel has made in the name of peace in the past decade, and where it has gotten them, and helps one understand why they are trying to keep this blockade in place, and why their enemies keep looking for reasons to incite violence to end it.