Virgin Galactic

The announcement of Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments to purchase a 32% stake in Virgin Galactic seems to go against any level of common sense. I can understand the desire of the Abu Dhabi government to want to become a center of research and innovation but why commercial space travel? Sure, they have the money to buy what they want but what’s their real vision?

Think what could happen when you take a government that truly wants to be a leader in scientific research and has the monetary power to support this vision. This could have a big impact in the drive to cure cancer, finding new power solutions and solving some of the biggest problems the world faces today. Their recent purchase in a stake of Tesla motors is clearly a solid play down this track. However, what’s the real value of commercial space travel and its impact on the global economy? Virgin Galactic has been in existence since ’04 and what do they have to show for? I believe this is a case of Mr. Branson selling a wild promise to a government that has more money than sense. There’s a reason why Mr. Branson has been a very successful businessman.

Pope Benedict

The Pope has recently commented on the current state of the world economy and urged changes in the roles that international institutions play in regulating the economy. The Pope’s message was also critical of some of the policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

While the Pope speaks from a position of power and respect, his comments on how to fix the economy and who should be responsible are ones I wish he would keep to himself. Any discussion he wishes to have about business capitalism and the role of governments should only focus on business “ethics”. Business ethics, or the lack thereof, has caused much of our economic crisis. If people would do the right thing and demonstrate the type of responsibility that not only the Pope expects but is the basis for living an enriched life, we wouldn’t have the level of home foreclosures, bank failures or Wall Street greed we have today.

The Pope might be able to influence what the core values of people should look like and link that to a success model. The Pope cannot influence the how government or institutions should work – nor do we want him to.