Skin In The Game

[Baker, John]

        Putting aside Safire's dubious 1912 cite, I see "skin in the
game" only back to 1991, which seems to imply that it goes back only to
the 1980s or so.  There are several citations from 1991, and they give
little indication, to me at least, of the term's origin.  Most uses do
seem to have some connection to the business world.  Ross Perot is
sometimes cited as the term's originator, though nothing I looked at
gave a source for this.


        Google Groups, 1/3/1991:  "And the rest of his point is that
those outside Israel have no right to complain till they (to quote a
supervisor I once had) "put some skin in the game.""


        American Lawyer, 6/1991 (via Westlaw):  "Another favorite device
of Shlakman's for controlling litigation costs is defense contingency
fees: offering outside lawyers a premium if they can hold their costs
down and penalizing them if they don't. "I want someone who has some
skin in the game," Shlakman says."


        Computer Weekly, 6/13/1991 (via Westlaw):  ""We need to
eliminate the clerks," advises Treacy. "Not because they are expensive,
but because they don't have enough skin in the game, they don't bear the
responsibility for results.""  [Article is about re-engineering business
processes.]


        Texas Lawyer, 6/24/1991 (via Westlaw):  "Another favorite device
of Shlakman's for controlling litigation costs is defense contingency
fees: offering outside lawyers a premium if they can hold their costs
down and penalizing them if they don't.  "I want someone who has some
skin in the game," he says."


        Fortune, 8/26/1991 (via Westlaw):  "Prices for takeover targets
became ridiculous. . . . We were flooded with financial types who didn't
have their own skin in the game."


        National Underwriter Property & Casualty, 10/14/1991 (via
Westlaw):  "Much like the Kona winds that sweep the Hawaiian islands,
independent agents are taking some bold steps to gain more control of
their future. . . . Agents need to "get some skin in the game and put
some money up," said Eric Gustafson, IIAA senior vice president,
encouraging agent involvement in the issue.  While his comments were
limited to automation development, the same "put-up-or-shut-up"
philosophy was apparent on other issues."


John Baker

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