Who is Mike?
Mike Guillaume is the co-founder and manager of e.com-ReportWatch, an American-headquartered,
London-based company that specializes in listed company reports’ assessment and benchmarking.
Mike has a wide knowledge of corporate and financial reporting and has been the editor of the
“Annual Report on Annual Reports” since 1996 (go to
www.reportwatch.net ). Prior to that, his track record
has included an extensive entrepreneurial (he created an enterprise at the age of 25) and
international management consulting experience. He worked first as an organization consultant
for a U.S. firm. Then he created and managed the Enterprise Group; first focused on business
planning for startups and local enterprises; then on strategies for international SMEs, global
firms and public institutions. He has consulted extensively across a wide range of industries
in Europe, North and South America, and Southeast Asia, with a good grasp of the financial
and energy sectors, among others. Parallel to his career path in markets, he did stints in
the public sector (as part-time economy minister cabinet advisor), public-private partnerships
(as program manager and consultant), and the academia (as visiting professor in international
strategy). That blend has given him good vantage points for watching economies and economics.
Mike has a degree in political science and international economics, and a background in financial management and analysis. He has authored many articles and contributed to various publications, analyses and seminars. Born in Charleroi (Wallonia, Belgium), Mike has lived, worked and consulted in twenty-five countries on four continents. He now splits his work and life between London (“a city founded by the Romans and I’m not tired of it”), a former Roman village in Belgium, and “other less Roman-influenced places.”
Mike's views?
Mike regards himself as a progressive (or left-of-center) liberal, also close to pro-market social democrats and “Third Way” (mind the definition!) ideas. Economically, that would probably translate as modern or post-Keynesian with a touch of Schumpeter and other influential figures.
“Liberal” also means open-minded and implies pragmatism more than fixed ideas, theories and ideologies. “When the facts change, I change my mind,” said Keynes. “A good idea is a good idea, regardless of where it comes from,” states the British liberal think tank Centre Forum.
He is a free-market partisan but considers, like a number of people, that the nature of capitalism has changed and that the system should either get back to its roots (sort of); and/or be reinvented, radically changed, and in any case regulated (not red-taped); and/or not invade the whole society, which needs as many breathing spaces (all meanings) as possible.
Influential figures
Mike’s Weltanschauung has been shaped by three sets of thoughts: the British economists and moral philosophers, the French Enlightenment philosophers and political scientists, and the Founding Fathers of the United States, as well as other influential figures.
Soundtrack
Some readers of Mike's book "The Seven Deadly Sins of Capitalism" have pointed out the number of references to music, musicians, songs and texts. Good point! Mike likes economics but loves music even more. Check here how economics can rock, too.
How to reach Mike?
E-mail: mike.g@mikeconomics.net
More about Mike?
A more detailed résumé is available here.
Invite Mike?
Time and workload permitting, Mike can make himself available for seminars, workshops, roundtables, conferences... Drop him an e-mail!
