Summary: Skilling's long prison sentence, Ford's huge losses, and the expected major shift in Congress are all related to a common thread: that America's business and government leaders no longer have the trust of their public.
HADLEY, MA: What common thread links the recent battering Ford Motor Company took in the market, the 24-year sentence handed to Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, and the drubbing the GOP is expected to get in next week's mid-term election?
According to blogger, activist, and ethics author Shel Horowitz, what unites these disparate stories is one trend: "The American people are totally sick of being lied to, manipulated, and stepped on by powerful interests who care only about a narrow agenda of partisanship and greed. To say it another way, the real issue in the psyche of America right now is ethics."
He also claims that Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan have been our last ethical presidents.
His full post can be seen at principledprofit.com/good-business-blog/2006/10/25/connecting-the-dots-ford-
earnings-losses-skilling-sentencing-democratic-gains-in-polls-and-
bushs-sunken-ratings/ The post links to three current major-media news stories, one other blog, and a chronology of the Ford Explorer safety issues prepared by the respected watchdog group Public Citizen.
Horowitz, 49, of Hadley, Massachusetts, is the award-winning author of Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First and the founder of the international Business Ethics Pledge movement, www.business-ethics-pledge.org -- which has signers in 24 countries on six continents. His other books include Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World, Marketing Without Megabucks: How to Sell Anything on a Shoestring, Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers, and others.
A blogger since 2004 and a marketing consultant since 1977, Horowitz's blog frequently examines the intersection of business, politics, ethics, and marketing.
Journalists: To interview Horowitz, call 413-586-2388 or use the e-mail contact form at www.frugalmarketing.com/contactform.shtml