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12 Responses to “Economic development links”

1. John Polk Says:
   January 31st, 2009 at 7:33 pm

   The Times article points rightly to the need for radical innovation on the clinical side, since 75% of health costs are clinical. But the same problems of outmoded business processes and inefficient distribution apply to how health coverage is marketed, sold, and serviced. The costs for small businesses and individuals are particularly steep, accounting for 25-27 percent of small group insurance costs. Plenty of room for innovation on that side, as well…The combination of better clinical standards and better administrative processes could reduce health care costs by 30% easy

   I am, of course, reminded of health economist Uwe Reinhardt’s invocation of The Alfred E. Newman Corollary: One dollar of health care reform equals one dollar of SOMEONE’S revenue at risk…There’s the rub…

2. lmcshane Says:
   February 1st, 2009 at 9:08 am

   Can you say GREEN WASH ? Cleveland Carbon Fund is another useless attempt for NEO politicos to camouflage their uselessness. It’s tantamount to putting up a cardboard cut-out for real sustainable behavior and what’s worse?–they ask residents to fund the charade. Shameless.

3. lmcshane Says:
   February 1st, 2009 at 9:09 am

   …Founding Partners of the Fund, who hold permanent positions within the Cleveland Carbon Fund’s Advisory Committee, include: the City of Cleveland, Cleveland Clinic, the Cleveland Foundation, Cleveland Museum of Natural History and The George Gund Foundation. Additionally, the fund has gained initial support from forward-thinking community partners including Charter One Bank, Forest City and BrownFlynn, with more to follow.

4. lmcshane Says:
   February 1st, 2009 at 9:10 am

   http://realneo.us/blog/lmcshane/green-wash-job

5. Ed Morrison Says:
   February 1st, 2009 at 9:16 am

   lmcshane:

   It looks to me like the Carbon Fund could be one element of a broader sustainability agenda for Cleveland: Moving from gray to green.

   I’m not sure why you are so negative.

6. John Ettorre Says:
   February 1st, 2009 at 9:21 am

   Come on. Both the Gund Foundation and the Natural History Museum have a long and honorable record of supporting this issue, and neither would lend their name to anything that could be called greenwashing. Your skepticism is welcome, but to assume this is a useless attempt even before it gets off the ground strikes me as quite counterproductive, to say the least.

7. lmcshane Says:
   February 1st, 2009 at 9:50 am

   Let’s watch and see…shall we?

8. lmcshane Says:
   February 1st, 2009 at 9:52 am

   Afterall, as another dubbed “negative” person recently commented…I don’t need to pay Cleveland Carbon Fund to figure out how to change a light bulb

9. lmcshane Says:
   February 1st, 2009 at 9:56 am

   Oh…and we will be paying out in a big way soon to NEORSD per today’s PD. Do you have a lot of confidence in this process of taking your public dollar and washing it real good? Believe me, Ed/John, I want to feel good and happy and positive about NEO. I see every day heroism from civil servants, bus drivers, Ms. Seifert at Cleveland City Hall deserves a medal…but administrators…

10. lmcshane Says:
    February 1st, 2009 at 10:12 am

    Forward thinking partners…FCE?

11. Ed Morrison Says:
    February 1st, 2009 at 10:36 am

    lmcshane:

    You have every reason to be skeptical. This region’s business and foundation leadership has, for reasons I outline here, compiled a miserable record of translating ideas into action over the past decade. (The only real success is BioE, which is riding a strong research base in expanding markets. Economic development is not all that tough with the wind at your back.)

    We all recall Voices and Choices: The $3 million boondoggle that was supposed to remake this region (but couldn’t get the basics of civic engagement right).

    Our foundation leadership is prone to making grand claims without really knowing what it is doing. They have waded into the complexities of regional economic development and ended up with remarkably little beyond what we already had: as Cleveland centric, expensive and top heavy set of development organizations.

    This may be another example of inflated rhetoric.

    But it may also be a hopeful sign of new thinking. And, as two feet of snow cover my car, I am looking for hopeful signs for Cleveland.

    (As for FCE, this company’s management, to my mind, is ethically bankrupt. Ten years of manipulating local politicians and the PD have fed the culture of corruption and destroyed the capacity of this city’s business leadership to guide complex projects. As the convention center debacle makes clear, the Greater Cleveland Partnership has become arrogant, isolated and ineffective. The GCP made a $168 million mistake on a $425 million project simply to do FCE’s bidding. That’s incompetence of a high order.)

12. lmcshane Says:
    February 1st, 2009 at 10:55 am

    Thank you Ed! I am going out to do some shoveling right now. We all need to do some shoveling
    Your friend, Laura