Opinion

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The Elbert Files: Hotel’s storied history

Hallways in the upper floors of the newly renovated Hotel Fort Des Moines are finished with a unique carpet that lists 10 events from the 102-year-old building’s history.

My favorite: “1939 – Police liquor squad …

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The Elbert Files: Hamilton had it right

Alexander Hamilton believed in government intervention.

His 1791 “Report on the Subject of Manufactures” was a 32,000-word argument for state-led economic planning, according to the 2020 book “Radical Hamilton; Economic Lessons from a Misunderstood Founder” …

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The Elbert Files: A new look at Hamilton

I admired Alexander Hamilton long before biographer Ron Chernow and Broadway playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda made our flawed founding father into a 21st-century icon. 

As Aaron Burr sings at the opening of Miranda’s “Hamilton”: 

“How does …

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On Leadership: Work is not working for women. What can leaders do about it?

It seems like every week I read a new report on women leaving the workforce and every week I have conversations with women friends who are contemplating quitting their jobs due to burnout. 

Trying to …

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The Elbert Files: Iowa murder mystery

A Hollywood actress, working on location for a major motion picture in a small Iowa town, is bludgeoned to death with a golf club for no apparent reason.

The trail of clues left by the …

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On Leadership: Listen Up! I mean, really listen.

How many times has someone in your work or personal life asked you if you were really listening? I fully admit that sometimes I catch myself nodding when someone says something to me, only to …

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The Elbert Files: Neil Harl, 1933-2021

Neil Harl, who died Nov. 4 at age 88, was quite possibly the smartest person I ever interviewed and definitely the fastest talker.


Harl knew all there was to know about agriculture and finance. 


He …

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The Elbert Files: Killing a golden goose

“They finally did it,” my old friend K.C. said when I caught up with him on the Grand Avenue bridge over Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway.


“Did what?” I asked. “Passed a reapportionment plan? 


“They …

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The Elbert Files: Bill Knapp and downtown

“The Making of Bill Knapp,” a new book by Simpson College history professor William Friedricks, includes sketches of 23 people who were key to the 95-year-old real estate developer’s success.

The book begins with quick …

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The Elbert Files: Economic optimism

“We are certainly in uncharted waters,” economist James Paulsen wrote in a recent newsletter that explores topics ranging from inflation to economic policy, employment to productivity, and millennials to downtowns.


Aging baby boomers are being …