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Michael Mansell (front center) with members of his research group at Oregon State University

 -- Blacks represent 13.6% of the U.S. population with a purchasing power of nearly 1 trillion, according to the recent State of the African-American Consumer Report gathered by information and analytics company Nielsen. However, less than three cents of every dollar return to Black-owned businesses. And at 16%, the national unemployment rate among African Americans is disproportionately high.

"A majority of our resources are spent outside of our own community, while the goods and services we offer are rarely extended to the international market. Because of that, the economic disparity is self-inflicted," says Michael Mansell, a physics student at Oregon State University, pictured left in striped among his colleagues.

According to Mansell, manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers in the United States are predominantly non-Black, and other groups are profiting from the African American consumer market. When this happens, the wealth gets drained from the Black community and invested in businesses, organizations, institutions, and programs that benefit other communities, where those dollars tend to remain. When the immense spending power of African Americans gets funneled into Black owned entities, those dollars return to the community, recycle, and reappear in the form of jobs, programs, and resources that ultimately benefit the Black consumer.

In response to this, Mansell, himself, has launched MDM International Enterprises, an online superstore that sells thousands of unique products. This is a for profit company, however community reinvestment remains the primary focus of this business model. Mansell hopes MDM International Enterprises will one day join the ranks of Walmart, Best Buy, and other such retailers.

Mansell is currently working on his PhD and has developed a sound solution to the economic disparity of the Black community. Drawn from studies of quantum physics, sociology, economics and other areas, his theory is called Nuclear Economics. Our economy is a physical system with definite properties. When certain sectors of that system are stimulated in controlled increments, the outcome can be predicted and the results, measured. Using algorithms Mansell creates what are called "stable pseudo jobs."

Mansell has determined that introducing a controlled amount of “perturbations” into the correct part of the economic system would boost the whole economy in a relatively short period of time. Introducing the right amount of "perturbations" would yield a chain reaction of perpetual growth, hence the name "Nuclear Economics." That exact amount of "perturbations" is also calculated using Mansell’s algorithms. What he is looking to do now, with the help of others, is put his theories into practice. He is launching Let’s Evolve, a nonprofit that will serve to institute these initiatives.

He comments, "We need to change our spending habits. We need to tell our friends and family to support Black owned companies whenever possible, to purposely and eagerly seek out black businesses to patronize. We need to leverage our economic power so that we can get more money back into our own community."

Mansell would like for Nuclear Economics to help the Black community progress to a point where Black owned companies claim a fair share of the international market and also produce a majority of the products purchased by Black consumers. He insists this is not about exclusion, as the economy as a whole would ultimately benefit. However, he still maintains that the economic empowerment of the African American Community must start from within.

"I’ve collected data over the years, while studying sociology, economics, business, math, and physics. Albeit, in my theories, all these principles are at work, but no one has to be a physicist to understand that buying from Black businesses means more jobs for Black people. That’s just plain common sense," he says.

About Michael Mansell
Michael Mansell, engineer, entrepreneur, and scholar, first introduced his theory of Nuclear Economics in 2010. He developed the framework for his concepts while studying at California Polytech University in Pomona, where he worked as a teacher. His research in nanotechnology led to publication in Physics Letters A. Currently, Mansell is enrolled at Oregon State University’s Graduate School of Physics and he is also working as a Teacher’s Assistant (TA) in that program.

For more information about MDM International Enterprises, visit www.mdmie.com. To learn more about Nuclear Economics, subscribe to the Let’s Evolve newsletter, visit www.letusevolve.org. There is a onetime fee of $20.00 for a lifetime subscription.

To make a donation to support Nuclear Economics research and initiatives, send a check or money order payable to Let’s Evolve, 1218 NW 23rd St. Unit #3, Corvallis OR 97330.

For more details, visit www.letusevolve.org