Michael Phillips (born 1938) is a published author of eleven books and a founder of the Briarpatch Network. As a banker in 1967 he organized Mastercard. Phillips was president of the Point Foundation in 1973; Point was created with money from the Whole Earth Catalog.[1] Writing for the CoEvolution Quarterly in 1976 he was the first person to suggest random selection of legislators and co-authored the first book on the subject in 1985.[2] Phillips has been an expert witness in more than a dozen public utility cases on behalf of major American minority organizations. From 1988 to 1998 he produced and hosted the national public radio program Social Thought.[3] He is also a pro-business blogger.[4]