The Cheddar Path | A blog about economics, politics and personal finance
Blue Scholars on SleptOn
In addition to the recent post on Blue Scholars, SleptOn Magazine did a write up on the progressive Seattle hip-hop crew that again highlights the unique nature of their recent business moves.
The typical schematic record deal is one where the terms are dictated to the artist. If you don’t like it, you hit the road. [...]
Blue Scholars: New Music, New Business Models
I’ve been a fan of Seattle hip-hop duo, Blue Scholars, for awhile now, and what continually impresses me about them is not only the music they create and the shows that they rock, but also the innovative, progressive business models they continue to create in a rapidly changing (and very corporate controlled, often exploitative) music [...]
Nonprofit Newspapers?
A recent SF Chronicle article describes how the decline in printed newspaper revenue has some proposing that newspapers move to a nonprofit model in which they establish an endowment to fund their operations as well as receiving direct donations. Basically, an endowment is a large amount of money that is invested by a foundation or [...]
WSJ Says: “It Pays To Be Ethical!”
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently conducted an experiment in which a group of consumers were tested on how much they would pay for products they knew were produced with ethical standards versus without such standards. Contrary to popular belief that all people care about is low prices, their findings showed that people are willing [...]
Michael Shuman & The Small-Mart Revolution
Economist and lawyer Michael H. Shuman has written extensively on many of the subjects discussed in this site, such as social entrepreneurship, progressive philanthropy and community based economics. Some of my favorite articles of his are:
“Profits for Justice” and “Why Do Progressive Foundations Give Too Little To Too Many?”
Recently, Shuman has shifted his focus to [...]
Philanthropy’s Role in Suppressing Revolutionary Movements
Michael Barker recently wrote a great article analyzing the ways major liberal foundations like Ford, Carnegie and Rockefeller have all co-opted revolutionary social movements through their “charitable” giving. He cites INCITE! Women of Color’s great anthology, The Revolution Will Not Be Funded, and also mentions further reading on the subject, such as Joan Roelofs’ 2003 [...]
Debating Solutions to Poverty
Max Borders wrote an article in a North Carolina newspaper recently contrasting traditional solutions to poverty (the liberal preference for more government regulation, welfare programs, etc. and the conservative preference for less government aid and more “free market” policies).
He clearly comes from a more conservative perspective, and although he makes some interesting points, there are [...]
Atlanta, GA: Interface Corporation
Although originally from Oakland, CA, I now live, work and play in Atlanta, GA. Amidst Atlanta’s sprawling multinational corporate sheen, Interface Corporation is doing some really interesting work. In their words:
“Interface is the worldwide leader in design, production and sales of modular carpet and a leading manufacturer and marketer of broadloom carpet, panel fabrics and [...]
B Corporations
An interesting article in the San Francisco Chronicle recently highlighted the growing number of “B Corporations” in the San Francisco Bay Area. B Corporations, with the B standing for ‘beneficial,’ are for-profit companies that must receive a passing grade on a long scorecard that covers environmental practices, employment practices, purchasing policies and whether their products [...]
Bill Drayton and Ashoka
Bill Drayton has been called the “godfather of social entrepreneurship.” He is the founder and current chair of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, a nonprofit organization that, as stated by Wikipedia, works to “to identify and support leading social entrepreneurs though a Social Venture Capital approach with the goal of elevating the citizen sector [...]