Lessons From Recovering Politicians

Academics might be able to learn something from retired public officials. Just as Sen. George McGovern learned the unintended consequences of laws which he supported as a legislator when the inn which he opened in retirement went bankrupt, so too can scholars learn a thing or two about how their theories play out in the real world by actually living under them outside of the Ivory Tower.

Former House majority leader Richard Gephardt has apparently had a small epiphany since retiring from Congress. “Where you have businesses giving workers a piece of the action and a sense of business literacy, you have magical results,” Gephardt said at a recent conference sponsored by the Center for American Progress (CAP). “You might ask me what government’s role is.”

“Frankly, I don’t think government has a role. It has to be done in the private sector.”

Gephardt is currently somewhat of a business consultant with “a broad array of Fortune 500 clients,” according to the CAP speaker bio from the event on December 3, 2010.

Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.

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