Thought Leadership Archive

Common Cents Blog

Common Cents & Deja Vu, Again

What a difference a week and one economic report make! Things HAD been going somewhat swimmingly in September. Unfortunately, on Tuesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) drained the pool with a disappointing Consumer Price Index…

Common Cents Blog

Common Cents & The Queen

Last Wednesday, August 31st, I officially joined the pandemic club by testing positive for COVID-19 for the first time. I had hoped to never become a member of this particular group. However, the virus had other…

Common Cents Blog

Common Cents & One Week Later

In March 2020, my wife, Margaret, and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and we had planned to celebrate with a vacation to Italy. Needless to say, that trip was postponed – several times. The trip finally…

Common Cents Blog

Common Cents & Johnny Vegas

This past Saturday, I made a presentation at a convention in Las Vegas. There were probably 300 people in the room, which was a little surprising. I said to the group, “Take a look to your…

Common Cents Blog

Common Cents & Know Your Enemy

This week, I made a presentation with my friend Anoop Mishra, the regional executive of the Birmingham branch of the Federal Reserve. Miller Girvin at the EDPA had asked us to speak for 20-25 minutes about…

Common Cents Blog

Common Cents & The Mean Grocery

This past week, the government reported just about every measure of inflation was lower in July than it had been in June. Even so, the trailing 12-month numbers are still near levels the U.S. economy hasn’t…

Economic State of Affairs

In this presentation, Chief Economist John Norris discusses the current state of affairs in relation to the economy and potential future moved by the Fed that may impact business operations and success.  This presentation is hosted…