The world seems like it's going to hell in a hand-basket all of a sudden. Financial Markets, The Housing Industry, US Auto Makers, The Republican Party, they all seem to be circling the drain right now. Unlike investors in the Great Depression, I don't feel like jumping out an office window. It could be that ignorance is bliss in this case, but I'm not having a panic attack and I'd like a moment to tell you why. Actually I'll need a bit more than a minute of your time. If you'll hang with me here, this will be a 3 part series covering Wall Street, The Auto Makers and the Republican Party. Let's get started! One reason I may be feeling calm about all this may be that I work at a Homeless Shelter and mine may be one of the few jobs in America that would seem relatively secure for the moment. We're anticipating growth! I don't mean to make light of the possibility that you are either unemployed or under-employed as you're reading this. I have been there and I know it's no pic-nic, however I'm hoping that I can convey a bit of hope in the midst of what looks like a disaster but may evolve into one of the best things that could have happened to us right now.
The excesses invited by what had become a financial orgy on Wall Street has its roots way back in our history and gets all elemental about the concept and history of Capitalism, but those excesses were given steroid treatments in the 80's by the union busting and financial deregulations of the Reagan/Bush era. The Clinton years, although prosperous by comparison, did little to stop the excesses. Those excesses were given even more steroids by the Bush Regime in the new millennium and the inevitable result is that "The chickens have come home to roost!"
It's an unfortunate and frightening scenario that could have been avoided. A great deal of the excess of Wall Street money management was made possible by our national leadership consciously looking the other way while Harvard and Yale trained lawyers created financial instruments that defy understanding but look fabulous on paper, and selling those instruments to opportunistic buyers with dollar signs in their eyes. What's tragic about this is that scant few of these miscreants are in jail tonight. Don Henley (The Eagles) put it best when he wrote "A man with a briefcase can do more damage than a man with a gun ever could."
The opportunity we have at hand while the melt down is occurring is to let most of it fall to bankruptcy. Bankruptcy, coupled with the regulations and "Supervision" entailed in Bankruptcy receivership will force these corporations to change their strategies to a more responsible, and accountable mode of operation as a matter of survival. It will mean life or death to them and I'm betting they're going to chose to live!
In the 50s the US economy was humming along at a good steady clip. It was considered strong down to its roots and there were few global companies. Most of the economy was found on main street in cities and towns across the country. Of course there were your Sears & Roebuck and your General Motors and Ford, there was your AT&T/Bell Telephone (then known as "Ma Bell") and the like, but most of our economy flourished in smaller more regionally centered companies. Mergers and acquisitions were rare.
The gradual departure from that economic model to the merger, acquisition and global expansion model we have now, took several decades and our economy experienced drastic fluctuations along the way. I wonder if it has occurred to anyone besides me that the transformation and the resulting market instabilities may be interrelated? Is it necessary, or even a good idea to accept that "Bigger is Better" when it comes to companies? We have the opportunity right now, while these global giants are imploding under their own weight, to move our economy back into a more localized, more consumer responsive, less interdependent business model. That direction would allow businesses which do not function properly to fold without destroying the entire national economy in the process.
While the transition will be a tremendous discomfort, that's a far better outcome for everyone including these corporations. Gone will be the days of "Looking out for Number 1". It will be replaced by a kind of patriotism that will dictate moral strength and character rather than worrying about whether your President is wearing his flag lapel pin. We'll be a total mess for a while, but we will re-invent ourselves into something much better if we do this right! Just like we always have.
I have noticed that leadership in America has a trickle-down effect on the bulk of the country. It sort of sets the mood, if you will. The values projected from the White House has real and tangible impact on the nature of what is acceptable or desirable behavior in the mainstream of society, particularly in the functions of the marketplace.
The influence of that leadership under the new Administration you chose will be a dramatic shift from the past few decades. That influence will be rooted in discipline, accountability, genuine patriotism as opposed to the fake posturing we've grown accustomed to, and considerably more fairness across the entire financial and social spectrum. I think it will reach much further into our collective lives as well. Real values may well have a resurgence as a result of the nature of the people the Obama's are at their core. At least that's the impression I get from watching how they've acted under some pretty powerful pressures during the past two years.
With this new Presidential Administration you brought into being, you can be sure that you will be called upon to make a contribution to your nation's future survival that will entail a great deal more then going shopping! You will be called upon to become an active participant in the direction you have longed to travel for so many years. The influence of this family seems to open the doors to the places we, as Americans, have been chomping at the bit to go!
And, what places might those be, you may ask? Oh, I don't know, abiding by the Constitution of the United States of America perhaps? Being a good neighbor to the rest of the world and cleaning up our yard and painting the house, maybe! Stop interfering in the affairs of state of other sovereign nations. You knopw, stuff like that!
I think that as a Nation over the past 8 years we may be feeling a bit of Battered Wife Syndrome. We know that this regime is wrong but we feel powerless to do anything about it because we are so splintered and divided and this Regime has become so strong. How could we possibly make them stop abusing that which we hold so dear?
The Obama's influence appears to be freeing us from all that and reminding us that this great country belongs to US and it is great because WE are great. That hasn't changed! It's going to take a minute or two for us to adjust to the new perspective, perhaps, but I'm reasonably certain that the change is going to do us good!
Opportunity Knocks, are you going to get it?
Much Love, Gregory
