Is their green in going macro green?

In an earlier blog entry, I suggested that The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman may be one of the most important books that you could read in college. Now Thomas Friedman is back with some further ideas on how to sustain the long run growth of our economy.

Check out Thomas Friedman's cover story on the “Power of Green” in yesterday's New York Times Magazine. According to Friedman: “The bottom line is this: Clean-tech plays to America’s strength because making things like locomotives lighter and smarter takes a lot of knowledge — not cheap labor. That’s why embedding clean-tech into everything we design and manufacture is a way to revive America as a manufacturing power.”

Here is a video interview with Tom Friedman on how America can regain its international stature by taking the lead in alternative energy and environmentalism. Or if you prefer an audio interview with Friedman on his proposed green makeover for the economy, click here.

California Dreaming: Green is Good Econ for Arnold

If California was a separate economy in would rank among the top ten economies in the country. Increasingly it is pursuing macro policies that are different than the United States government based in Washington. Our governor made the cover of Newsweek this week for his lead on environmental issues.

The ‘Governator' likes to call California a nation-state with its own economy. Here is an interesting quote from Mr. Schwarzenegger reported in the recent Newsweek interview:
“What we do here will have such a huge impact. We have such an unbelievable influence on the rest of the globe. We are a nation-state. We are the sixth largest, seventh largest economy in the world. We make our own deals with countries, with Japan, with China and Canada. We rely on the federal government, but we are also relying on ourselves. We're acting as a new country. "

For a provocative podcast conversation among some stellar economists on the short run and long run prospects for California’s economy, click here. There are lots of ideas in this Forum for your Discussion Board Post.

Extra Credit: Here is some extra credit for all of you budding accountants out there. What is the AMT? Why is your professor (and many other folks) grumpy about the AMT? If you are the first student to send me an e-mail (kwoodward@saddleback.edu) with the answer, you will be rewarded with two points that will be added to your Discussion Board Extra Credit Account on Blackboard. Remember to cite your source(s). Only two points in extra credit can be earned in any given week from the blog questions.