…an outbreak which has spread throughout the world. This according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The worst pandemic of the last century was the “Spanish” flu of 1918 which infected one-third of the world’s population and killed 50 to 100 million people, including nearly 700,000 in the U.S. No one expects this one to […]
News & Insights
Decision-Making Under Stress…
Ongoing uncertainty about COVID-19 may have you feeling stressed-out and unsure of how to proceed with the decisions of daily life, both big and small. Know that you are not alone – stress brings predictable changes to the areas in the brain responsible for logical decision-making for most of us. Research shows that when we […]
The Manufacturing Industry Hedges its Bets…
Between 1980 and 2011, the value of goods exported throughout the world increased from just over $2.0 trillion to $18.3 trillion, or just over 7% per year (see chart below). Over this period, falling transportation costs and improved communication tools allowed companies to source raw materials and components anywhere in the world for final assembly, […]
It’s a Slippery Slope…
One of the most fascinating things I read this week was an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal by Douglas Hodge, once CEO of investment giant PIMCO – and one of the dozens of parents who got arrested in last year’s college admission cheating scandal. Hodge paid $850,000 to get four of his children into […]
Your Supply Chain is Your Destiny…
The coronavirus, which first appeared in Wuhan China, is not only causing medical risk in China but also breeding fear and even panic worldwide. The coronavirus causes a range of respiratory illnesses ranging from the common cold to severe outcomes, even death. So far, the virus is only moderately infectious, but no one knows much […]
How Will the Secure Act Affect You?…
The recently passed Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act) is the first major retirement reform in more than a decade. The Act hopes to address a shortfall in retirement savings for many Americans. According to Employee Benefit Research Institute, 41% of households are expected to run out of money in their […]
To Growth or Not To Growth?…
Economic growth and prosperity, two concepts that fit perfectly together, like peanut butter and jelly, or summer and the sun. As with all things, there are voices that challenge this notion, and those voices are becoming increasingly loud. In a recent article in The New Yorker, author John Cassidy examined the relationship among economic growth, […]
My 2020 New Year’s Resolution is Broken Already!…
Every January I promise myself I will resist forecasting. It’s the smart people who know how little they know about the future, so I will try to be a smart person. I was in Taiwan on a business trip in the 1990s and saw a government report which projected the next five-year growth rate out […]
“Workin’ For The Man” Ain’t What it Used to Be…
An Oxford University study back in 2013 concluded that 47% of American jobs are at high risk of automation within two decades. A McKinsey Global Institute analysis came to the same conclusion according to an article in The Week back in September 2019. Stories about the future are often scarier than what actually comes about. […]
So Why Are We Not Happier?…
The United Nations 2019 World Happiness Report is out and the happiest country in the world is Finland. The U.S. is all the way down in 19th place, its worst ranking ever. How can we be so affluent and at the same time so glum? I don’t have the answer but a good place to […]
Climbing a Wall of Worry…
From an economic perspective, the last decade was remarkable. Unemployment declined steadily, inflation, which can heat up during the late stages of an economic recovery, remained muted and interest rates low. Investors also had a good 10 years. Between the end of 2009 and 2019, stocks in the S&P 500 returned just over 250% and […]
Why Your Cell Phone Plan Is So Expensive…
In the introduction to his new book, The Great Reversal, economist Thomas Philippon tells a wonderful story about landing in Boston in 1999 as a native of France, eager to start his Ph.D. program in economics at MIT. After finding a place to live and taking care of the basics, he goes to buy a […]
