What Most Business Majors Never Learn in School: Rogue Economics

Year after year colleges and universities in the United States churn out hundreds of thousands of students well versed in supply side economics and Thomas Friedman’s the world is flat thinking. The majority of these students, particularly those at institutions that carry the nefarious and simultaneously proud (it depends on who you are talking to) moniker HBCU scarcely realize that after four, five or six years of schooling they know less about economics than their great grandmother who placed her money under a matress instead of blindly hand it over to something called Wall Street.

Well maybe during the easy-money, prosperity laden 1980s and 90s it was okay to believe the crock in your economics textbooks and the drivel being dished out by some economics or political science professor. Hey afterall you could be dumb and still have money in those days.

I have noticed a lot of college students recently putting forth the rallying cry of change for contestants vying for the White House in 2008. But how can the political-economic landscape in the U.S. change and be taken back from the hucksters (e.g. big business, greedy politicians, lobbyists, left/right wing fanatics) on Capital Hill and the Beige House, if today’s students are fed and taught the same old stuff? I can’t say that I agree with everything that Hilary Clinton says but she did have the gall to say “SPR” Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the Bush White House/oil cartel. That is release some of the trillion gallons of petroleum holed up in our reserves as a way to bring our soaring gas prices down. Political posturing by Bill and Hillary? Maybe. But to have the audacity to say it when most voters have never even heard of it is a feat within itself.

I doubt if few business professors teach their students about those not overly prosperous/not overly poor Danes and Norwegians populating Scandanavia with their 26-hour work weeks and $10.00 an hour minimum wage jobs. The Scandanavian economic model may not be perfect but it sure seems to be doing better than the U.S. economic system. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez seems to be a fan of the Scandanavian model.

So, what should business, economic and finance majors in the U.S. be reading these days? Why not start out with Loretta Napoleoni’s “Rogue Economics”

Come on uniformed college students and John Q. Public living in the U.S. It is time to read and think for a change. Now that is real change: reading and thinking!

Richard Branson As a Model for Youth Independence and Learning Effectiveness

Youth independence within the “Dymaxion” framework refers to any featherless biped e.g. young person between the ages of 13 and 23. These ages reflect the time that children start to change physically and psychologically, are not as dependent on their parents or guardians and are old enough to drive cars, go to college and reproduce children that look like them. But wait—no longer are little Suzie and little Bobby allowed to grow into adult Susan and big husky Robert. The parents of today’s youth are holding on to their colleges are children as though they are still in kindergarten.

It has become normal for today’s parents to call their son’s or daughter’s university professors to inquire why their adult children received an F instead of an A; or for mom to write up a resume and then badger a perspective employer about how Jr. or Sally did in the interview; or for mom to call the residence hall every morning at 8:00 am to find out if their adult child ate a decent breakfast and studied for the upcoming English literature examination.

It is good that today’s parents have a closer relationship with their children; probably greater than at any other time in American history. However, in the current technological, interactive and globally competitive world which has seen formerly lesser developed nations like India and China surpass U.S. innovation, maybe it is time American parents followed the example set by the parents of Virgin Atlantic CEO Richard Branson.

Growing up in Britain in the 1950s Branson said that his “parents continually set challenges for us. My mother was determined to make us independent.” This is the complete opposite of the typical American parent that expects a call from their progeny every hour on the hour.

Branson’s headmaster told him on leaving the boarding school he was attending: “Congratulations Branson: I predict you will either end up in jail or a millionaire.” The dyslexic and slightly rebellious Branson ended up the latter.

Here are a few things mentioned in Branson’s autobiography Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business, My Way that helped him become independent and find his own way in the world.

1. His mother stopped the family car a few miles from home and made a 4 year old Ricky find his way home. He got hopelessly lost but finally made it home.

2. At the age of 11 Branson’s mother packed him a lunch and told him to ride his bike to a relative’s house in Bournemoth fifty miles away and return the next day. He had to find his own water and did not have a map.

3. At the age of 5 his aunt bet him ten shillings he couldn’t learn to swim in a day—in the ocean. A day later, after spending hours swallowing a lot of water, scratching his legs on rocks and being chilled by freezing cold water he learned to swim.

4. As a boy he often played a game called River Run where you raced your bike downhill, then at the last moment braked to a stop at the edge of a riverbank. This was a challenge for Branson and his boyhood pals.

5. While in school the 15 year old Branson and a classmate started a magazine that would have interviews with famous people and include articles from students all over the U.K. In the publishing industry of 2008 it is slightly risky for the seasoned businessman to start a fledgling publication—Branson did it as a teenager.

Well, parents that chauffeur your kids to all their extra-curricular events or go to the extreme and chart out their 8-to-5 schedules, and generally don’t allow for individual exploration what can you do? I would suggest that you take some tips from Branson’s parents because apparently the strategy works. He turned out to be a well-rounded humanitarian and millionaire business owner.