Brian Gongol
The governor's inaugural address included a worrisome line: "It's time to create the jobs of the future that will keep your children and my children here at home, where they belong." That's a bothersome mindset: No one "belongs" anywhere unless that's where they want to be. Iowa's goal doesn't have to be "keeping kids here" -- that's like saying "It's not all that great here, so we have to bribe people to stay." Wrong. Iowa's a great place, but it could also be better. But the things we do to make it better should be focused on doing things that are attractive to people in general -- whether they're Iowa natives choosing to live here, or transplants from places like Hawaii or Georgia who find Iowa alluring.
North Korea is trying to feed itself on giant rabbits. The story is utterly bizarre, not to mention extremely inefficient.
Here's a likeable thing: Companies that sponsor events and attractions aimed at the young. Why? Because those companies are taking a long-term view of their businesses. We work longer than ever, and we live longer than ever. We're going to need our companies to plan for longer-term views, too.
Keywords in this show:
Iowa •
jobs •
life expectancy •
marketing •
North Korea •
rabbits •
sponsorship