A Tale of Two Cities - "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." Maybe it is Today

 
Updated Writing: Back in 1982, I was working for NCR in Dayton, Ohio and doing my grad work at the University of Dayton.  My instructor was a financial VP at NCR which made the course immediately at tad easier for me.  Early in the semester, this instructor took a liking to me. It was probably our third or fourth class when he became somewhat philosophical, and even emotional, about a topic - he discussed the misuse of economic power.  He did not discuss this from a technical viewpoint, but from social endgame viewpoint (remember, this was the early 80s - late baby boomers were flourishing - being a Yuppie was the in thing - it was the Reagan years - Round One).  After class, he asked me to come to his office. There was something he wanted me to have.  He handed me his marked up old copy of A Tale of Two Cities and said, "Bob, make sure you read this".  It was about two years later, after reading it – that I put the puzzle pieces together.

A Tale of Two Cities continued popularity is more about history repeating itself (IMO) than any economic theory or situation.  Not enough people read, especially our youth, which is why we are destined to repeat our history again and again.

Below Originally Published September 2012

Original Writing modified and expanded:  I very rarely express a political opinions, but I believe our politicians are tying our hands behind our backs and then holding us responsible for scratching our bellies and fining us if we don't...  I fear that in our lifetimes we will experience not only what we saw in Greece, but as an extreme, what we saw in Egypt (Note: Originally written in September 2012). It will not be the fault of one group, class, corporation, or party, but what we, as a people, ignorantly chose and even voted for. Thus it’s what we wanted.

Someone will, in their documentation of history, say: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." ¹

From Wikipedia

In spite of what we learn, how smart we are, and the wisdom we have - history continues to repeat itself - Read about, (or even READ) A Tale of Two Cities.


¹  Wikisource: A Tale of Two Cities/Book the First/Chapter I







Bob Leonard
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The Perfect Storm (Economically Speaking) a Year Later. The Worst (Best) is Yet To Come.

To understand this article you will need to read my article from a year ago with a similar name.  The Perfect Storm (Economically Speaking).  What's different, what's new, what have we learned and how far have we come and where are we going?

Capital, even though it is hemorrhaging slowly, is still pent-up. It needs to flow faster to the capital demand and will as it realizes it is missing opportunities (which it is).  What do the markets think?  Go to almost any trade show this year - They are bigger and the crowds are huge, much larger than just last year.  This is definitely a leading indicator of the state of our economy (Peter Lynch style).

Businesses are spending and hiring; the pace on both is going to increase.  Last year I felt like we were in a sling shot still pulling back (potential energy) - it's definitely moving forward now (kinetic energy).

As I have said before, a government that is indecisive, causes money to sit still - no one invests when the rules-of-the-game have not been defined.  Today, even though the rules still need some tuning, the capital and venture markets can no longer hold back - we are moving to flowing dollars.  What is even more amazing (IMHO), business activity is driving our government policies to make decisions (immigration reform).

So what else is coming?  High interest rates, high inflation, low unemployment, cheap non-exportable energy (venture $$$ abuzz), re-urbanization and localization.

Fun times ahead, I wish I were a young entrepreneur again; I envy my children and my grand children as there is a bright future for the young entrepreneur.

Oh, and I took the summer off from writing :) .

Bob