I believe in the concept of the Federal Reserve being independent. I don’t like the idea of Trump (or any president) trying to control it. At this particular time, I don’t think we need many, if any, interest rate reductions. A six to seven percent mortgage rate is a historical norm. You might consider that
A Little History on Presidents and the Federal Reserve Read More »
Richard Cantillon’s “Essay on the Nature of Trade in General” will resonate with you. He was one of the first guys to make a bunch of money in a bubble. Here’s what he said about the relationship between banks and government. Sound at all familiar? “It is then certain that a bank, in concert with
Harvard Business Review, May 2002. Interestingly enough, trying harder is a problem when the business environment changes because of the tendency to do more of the same thing you’ve always done. Typically, those things are not the right things to do anymore. As I’ve written, this corresponds to my own experience doing turnaround work. You
“Disruptive Change- When Trying Harder is Part of the Problem.” Read More »
Many years ago, I wrote a Market Watch column on branding. I opined that the importance of brands might be declining in the action sports world as products became reliable and similar. My friend and, at that time, editor Sean O’Brien at Transworld thought enough of it to immediate publish it online without telling me.
What About Brands? Read More »
That’s the title of a scroll through presentation by the Financial Times. It shows and discusses the growth, and projected growth, of data centers. Talks about the energy needs and cooling requirements (resulting in more energy needs) and some of the solutions big players are pursuing. Here’s the link. You probably thought, like I did,
Inside the Relentless Race for AI Capacity Read More »
I don’t know what the actual tariff rates will finally turn out to be. The chart shows you that they haven’t been this high in 75 plus years. Economists argue about the impact of the Smoot-Hawley tariffs (19.8%- show in the chart) but it wasn’t good. Tariffs never have an overall positive impact on any
Historical Tariff Rates in the U.S. Read More »
“The current national conversation about manufacturing confuses a reduction in manufacturing jobs with a slowdown in U.S. manufacturing. Period. Once we have properly understood this distinction, unpacked the reality of both, cared to look into the causation of both, and fully analyzed what it all means, we will have a much more effective understanding of the
The Reality of American Manufacturing Read More »
In August of 2007, then Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress that the subprime crisis would be contained. We went on to have the Great Financial Crisis GFC), of which the subprime crisis was just one cockroach. Now we’re facing another financial crisis- potentially worse than the GFC- caused by another 15 years or
Seattle’s main airport is surrounded by communities and has grown like a weed right along with the Seattle metropolitan area. It has no practical way to expand. Through recent technology and some clever evolution of facilities the airport authority is doing everything it can to shoehorn more passengers and flights into the same space. But
Airports and Mountain Resorts Read More »
It started in May of 1984 when Continental Illinois Bank failed. And was rescued. People were saved from having made a bad investment. So much for moral hazard- the idea that investing is a risk, which has evolved to be not the case in “too big to fail” companies. We know what happened. More and