February 20, 2023
Good morning! It is so very good to be with you today. I was reminded of this aphorism during a meeting last week: Do not make any major decisions in February. Really good advice… pace yourself, be patient, don’t go off the rails, work on your taxes, do not de spair.
- Please forgive this annoying annual rant: There is no such thing as Presidents’ Day.
- The third Monday of February is designated by law as George Washington’s Birthday — one singular president.
- The Uniform Monday Holiday Bill was adopted by Congress in 1968 — not without controversy — and signed into law by then-President Lyndon Johnson.
- Only the first — and unanimously elected — President of the United States was ever meant to be honored and recognized on this day.
- Of course, George’s real birthday is February 22 — and that is the day during which we will have cherry pie.
- (Yes, we know, we know… lots of controversy nowadays about George, but let’s just give him this one day, please; he did personally put down the whisky rebellion.)
- Worth repeating — and remembering: There are no panaceas.
- Will electric vehicles cure all of our woes? (Hint: No.)
- Because we know absolutely nothing on the topic, Louis Vuitton has long fascinated us as a phenomenon to be better understood and more appreciated.
- We see now that Louis’ fortunes have nearly quadrupled in the last ten years, begging the question, who buys this stuff — and why?
- You will no doubt have noted, Louis has been of late in his dramatic and colorful polka dot period.
- If you are in the pickleball demographic, pay close attention to the fashion statements headed your way — soon.
- Lots and lots of new jet airplanes are being ordered from the two largest manufacturers — none of them electric, the planes, that is, not the manufacturers.
- Though we’ve probably seen the peak of so-called remote working, it is probably not going away completely anytime soon.
- Somewhat counterintuitive, the hottest places to work remotely are in the old traditional midwest, places like quasi-rural Indiana, Missouri, and Kansas.
- Why: Low(er) cost housing, existence of 5G WiFi, low(er) cost of living, very low unemployment, pretty good restaurants, pretty good culture.
- Good news/ Bad news: We’re going to work longer — and be happier about it.
- The proverbial 40-years career is switching to a 60-years career spanning many different jobs and areas of interest/ expertise. (Hymowitz, 2023)
- We know how elite athletes rise to the top; some of it is luck, but most of it is skill, talent, and rare genetic gifts.
- But, how about artists, painters for example?
- With tens of millions of painters producing countless works of art around the world, what will rise to the top and eventually fetch $million$?
- This is perplexing, perhaps not for an art scholar, but for most of us, we would suspect.
- Please teach us.
- When you think about it, what organization wouldn’t use a so-called zero-based budgeting process and discipline ALL of the time?
- If the media are writing the first draft of history, how important is it for them to get it as nearly accurate as possible?
- For those who have been contributing to the eulogy and/or the obituary of Uber, you might want to simultaneously work on its Phoenix.
- “Globalization isn’t going away, but it is changing…” (McKinsey, 2023)
- “The flows of goods, the real tangible stuff, have leveled off after nearly 20-plus years of growing at twice the rate of GDP.”
- “But, the flows of goods kept pace with GDP and even rose a little bit, surprisingly, in the past couple of years…”
- “The fact that certain goods are growing less quickly than other types of flows shows this shift in our economy and what’s most important to the way the economy functions.”
- “What’s happening, in part, is that a variety of countries are producing more domestically — first and foremost China.”
- “… flows of data grew by more than forty percent (40%) per annum over the past ten years.” (Ibid. White, 2023)
