Howard Schultz to Barack Obama et al: Yes Business Can!

November 6, 7:03 PMSeattle People ExaminerLaura Vecsey

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Is it me or does Howard Schultz appear to be angling for a slot in Barack Obama's Cabinet? Maybe it IS time America had a Secretary of Coffee & Responsible Free-Market Ingenuity.

The Starbucks King unleashed an economic manefesto today on The Huffington Post aimed at any lurking weak-kneed socialists who Schultz worries will over-react to the current market crisis at the expense of the wonders of capitalist innovators like, well, Schultz. 

"Despite the tight economic conditions, we made this significant investment in our people now for the same reason many companies would consider eliminating it: the current climate is yielding more discerning and thrifty customers. Consumers are spending less and will more closely scrutinize products; they will embrace only the companies and brands they trust and with which they identify."

Read the rest of Schultz's over-the-counter prescription for what ails the U.S. economy here.

Schultz continues to uphold his philosophy that companies that invest in their workers and their product will be trusted by consumers. Of course, he glossed over the part where Starbucks got waayyyyy tooooo big for its britches, forcing Schultz to come back on board and lead.

Despite Starbucks' recent travails, we remain big-time Howard Schultz Coffee/Kool-AId drinkers around here. Schultz can fill a room and spout passionately, making a shot of espresso served in a corner living-room shop sound like  metaphor for everything human beings need to feel complete. Starbucks was and still is a star company. It  was cutting edge not only for the way Schultz put good cofffee on every street corner -- and then some; but Starbucks has been a Fair Trade-minded, employee-valuing company since its inception. 

Maybe Schultz DOES have things to tell Barack Obama about the way to proceed out of this economic shipwreck. But considering the failed lobbying effort at the Washington State Legislature when Schultz tried to bulldoze a new arena for his (former NBA team) Sonics, it's probably best that Schultz stick with Huffington Post manefestos instead of personally lobbying the President-Elect.