Juggling Dynamite

My piece this week on the exclusion of IBM CEO Ginny Rometty from the traditional invite to membership at Augusta golf course as a corporate sponsor for the Masters (because she has a uterus), brought a flurry of some of the most Neanderthal reader mail we have seen in some time. Ironic to me, since a male friend brought this issue to my attention in the first place.   It was refreshing to see some men take the time to articulate an insightful case against the status quo here.  Mohamed El-Erian wrote a thoughtful piece on when “tradition” fails as justification for antiquated policies. It always seems to have greatest impact when someone in a chosen group stands up for those who are excluded. (Surely Mohamed can’t be simply dismissed as a man-hater).  Here is El-Erian:

“Like millions of Americans, I learnt last week that the famous Augusta National Golf Club does not admit women members. I found the news astonishing, especially for a club that hosts the prestigious Masters Tournament. It was also hard to ignore in the face of questioning by my 8-year-old daughter…

My daughter is right. There is no good reason to exclude women from Augusta.

Talent is not an excuse as I suspect that there are women interested in joining who are better golfers than current members of the Club. Even worse is last week’s statement by an Augusta official that “it is up to current members.” How could he ignore a set of fundamental rights, responsibilities and obligations that form the basis of good governance and civilized interactions?

My daughter’s innocent questioning should be considered not just by the members of Augusta but also by the thousands of golfers who aspire to play on one of the very best courses in the United States. It also highlights the dilemma facing Augusta’s sponsors who may well field more questions about their financial support.

Most importantly, my daughter identified one of the reasons why, even in 2012, something as obvious as gender equality continues to face an uphill battle. “Tradition” is once again used to legitimize an outdated and harmful practice. And this unfortunate situation extends well beyond a famous golf club in Georgia; and the implications are much more consequential.

Tradition often serves as a cover for ignorance and biases, both overt and unconscious. And this mix inhibits women’s opportunities worldwide”…

Those interested in further food for thought can read the whole article here.

In his latest book, Finance and the Good Society, Yale Professor Robert Shiller argues that a healthy financial sector is key to a strong and productive democracy. But morality and good regulation are key to success: “we don’t want the bad guys to take over, you want it to be a good clean game” he says. Here is a direct link.

All of the protesting against increasing tax rates for the top earners reminds me of Stone Soup, one of my favorite childhood stories.

In the story a village is starving with each family suffering with meager supplies in the isolation of their own abode. A stranger comes to town and starts boiling water in a big, black cauldron over a bonfire in the village square. When asked what he is doing, the stranger throws some stones into the pot and replies that he is making stone soup. One at a time as each curious villager comes to take a look, the stranger thinks out loud how much better this delicious soup could be if only he had a couple of carrots. When some come back with a couple of carrots, he says the same about potatoes, and then turnip and then onions and pepper and so on. Finally he has a huge pot of hearty soup able to feed the entire village for a week and they all come out to enjoy their collective bounty together.

Those opposed to allowing the bush tax cuts to expire are typically arguing that the increased revenue derived from taxing the highest income earners more will amount to just a few billion stones in a bucket against a deficit and debt of trillions. That may be so. But this is about the need for everyone to throw some concessions in the pot. The middle and lower classes have little and should expect to get even less going forward.

Spending and entitlement cuts are the new normal as we work our way back from the world’s financial suicide of the credit bubble. We all have to figure out ways to get by more efficiently and on less. Every bit of increased revenue and lower spending is part of the solution. We cannot afford to discard any piece of this as too insignificant. Every bit counts. And just as importantly, the appearance of fairness and shared sacrifice is critical to mobilizing mass cooperation behind a mammoth, but not insurmountable task. A brighter future depends on what we are prepared to do to earn it.

Austan Goolsbee, Chicago Booth School of Business economics professor, debates whether President Obama’s call for tax fairness is anti-stock market and anti-investor, with the Kudlow Report’s Larry Kudlow. Here is a direct link to a good discussion on the topic. Goolsbee makes the important points that top tax rates have never been lower in the US. And deficits have never been higher.