'Tis Only My Opinion!™August 2020 - Volume 40, Number 8Downsizing!
It was Valentine's Day in 1970 when we moved into our new home in Texas after leaving the high tax and increasing crime levels found in New Jersey and New York. Now after over 50 years in our Texas abode... the time has come to downsize and move into a retirement community. Thanks to the Pandemic causing all types of construction delays, the original move-in date of March 31st has slipped further and further. Yet, it has been a blessing as we have been able to select and reduce the accumulated papers, pictures, books, computers, clothing ... ad infitum which a family collects. But the move will occur sometime in the next month or so ... Painful ... but necessary. Is there a lesson here?Of course ... The Covid pandemic has downsized the private U.S. economy with private unemployment rolls rising to unprecedented levels.
The resulting changes to the work environment will be disastrous for many aspects of the working economy and beneficial to others. Working from home and shopping on line are only part of the changing landscape which may forever remake the economic landscape. The bulk of the unemployment problem has been borne by the private and non-profit sectors. Yet, the government sector has not seen any significant employment shrinkage but declining tax revenues are beginning to take a toll. However, just wait until after the upcoming election and we might see a significant change in the public arena also. The federal government and the Federal Reserve's response to the massive decline in GDP and increasing unemployment has been simply to open the money spigot. Low interest rates have kept real estate values in non-core population centers steady or increasing. The mushrooming federal debt will eventually have to be paid, refinanced and/or defaulted. The declining U.S. economy has shrunk tax revenues and the impasse over the new Stimulus package is largely due to the Democratic hope for funds to bail out states run by Democrat politicians. What's the lesson ...The next administration ... whether headed by a Republican or a Democrat .... will have to find a way to downsize dramatically the bloated federal government as well as all pension, health and social security programs.
State and local governments will also find it necessary to evaluate all programs and pension programs. The clock has been ticking for years but with the lockdowns caused by the pandemic ... government downsizing is just ahead! But then - 'Tis Only My Opinion!Remember to: Keep It Safe, Simple and Stay Focused! Fred Richards www.adrich.com Corruptisima republica plurimae leges. [The more corrupt a republic, the more laws.] -- Tacitus, Annals III 27 'Tis only My Opinion! Archive Menu, click here. This
issue of 'Tis Only My Opinion was copyrighted by Strategic Investing in 2019. |
