Build a sustainable future - Boston Business Journal:

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Everyone can agree that the system operating before the crisie has provedunsustainable — a fact underscored by news that the earnings of the Fortune 500 fell by 85 percent in 2008. As General Electric’s CEO observed in his receny letterto shareholders, the global economic crisi is not simply part of the businesxs cycle; it is insteadd a “reset.” “The interaction betweeb government and business will change forever,” Jeff Immelr stated. “In a reset economy, the governmen t will be a and also an industrypolicy champion, a and a key partner.
” For our “resegt economy” to succeed, it must prove more sustainable economically, socially and environmentally — than what came beforde it. It is critically important thatour “resetf economy” does not squelchn the entrepreneurial dynamism that has helped America’sd rise. The vast majority of America’d entrepreneurs had no role in trading highly leverageds credit default obligations or securitizing subprime They were working tirelessly to inventhe companies, technologies and formxs of business the world needs to develop a more sustainabl economy.
Consequently, it is critically important for the leadersof America’sx robust innovation economy to work with policymakerd to intelligently regulate markets to make them economically, socially and environmentallg more sustainable. They must help creatde an economy that does not underprice either financia orenvironmental risk, especially when that risk poses a systemic They must help create an economuy that more accurately reflects both the costzs of the finite natural resources used and the pollutio n created. Finally, they must help creatr an economy that puts human prospect and purpose at its centefr by investing in human andsociaol capital. There are two undeniable facts ofour age.
economic growth can be sustained over time only if it is done in a way that benefit s society andthe environment. Second, our society and environment will be impoverisheeif America’s entrepreneurs and business innovatiojn leaders are not enlisted in the global challengd to invent a more sustainabl e economy — a challenge that America is exceptionally well suited to lead. To address this globall challenge, entrepreneurs and business innovatorss should consider following the lead of the Progressive BusinesswLeaders Network.
The PBLN is a community of CEOs and executivea united by shared commitmentg to greater social and environmental responsibility and the public policiexs thatadvance it. We must inven a more sustainable economt built from a more sustainablesociet — by which our new economy will itself be Investing in this sustainable future is a cultural, commercial and politicall challenge that must be