Last night, I made a presentation, ostensibly about economics. By the end of my allotted time, however, I had delved off into conjuncture and personal opinion which bordered on histrionics. What I said wasn’t wrong; it was anyone’s best guess, and it just so happened to be mine. Lets face it: if I could look into the future with crystal clarity, I probably wouldn’t have made that speech last night, you know?
However, I was working, if you want to call it that, for free; so, I suppose my comments were worth what the group paid for them. Even so, I did sprinkle in a few salient comments, one being: “inflation adjusted income has been stagnant for years, and the labor force participation rate has been going down. What must be happening to real household income? If fewer people are working, and wages are just barely keeping up with inflation? That’s right; it has been going down. And if it has been going down, growing a consumer-driven economy at a rapid rate, the 3-4% growth everyone wants, is going to be a pretty neat trick.”
Maybe I didn’t say it exactly like that, but it was close; and close enough for government work, which, come to think of it, is what calculating Gross Domestic Product is. But what is the solution?…Read On…
The opinions expressed within this report are those of John Norris as of the initial publication of this blog. They are subject to change without notice, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Oakworth Capital Bank, its directors, shareholders, and employees.