from California, USA
A freelance writer, published author, and online since 1996.
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OC METRO> UCI’s Policano: Make Detroit our new China.
Difficult times breed novel ideas. I like Policano’s idea of sourcing work back to the American industrial center. But not just manufacturing jobs, I think new incentives could drive a whole range of services back in-country with two benefits:
ONE: obviously, we get more people back to work.
TWO: increase tax revenues.
It’s time to push the envelope folks. – HP
I am a skipped needle on the grove of optimism. I’m tripping on the streaming beams of silver light that is emanating from the end of the tunnel of despair. I am the ‘control V’ of great news and ‘control C’ of great expectations. I bring faith reinstated, hope inflated, and love remunerated! Rejoice ye weary souls and prepare to be rejuvenated. Hallelujah!
So, yeah. I’m interested, engaged, and indelibly, incurably optimistic. Why?
Because Cynicism and negativity won’t get you a new job, but they may make you sick. At least if you are optimistic, you’ll be healthy enough to a job, when one comes along. Most important – you can see your options more clearly when you have an open mind. After all, the power of optimism is clarity.
Take the optimism of sailors and foot soldiers during the Victorian/Elizabethan times. They knew that there was little to be gained by ducking and diving for cover; you might very well be hit cowering behind the binnacle as you would standing stock straight at your station with dignity and honor intact. Well, okay. Maybe that’s a bit of a stretch, but you’d better have an ounce of optimism facing a maelstrom of musket and cannon fire lest you shrivel and do something distasteful in your boots. Optimism means facing your challenges with an open mind to success, survival. What sense is there in worrying about how bad things may get? Might as well bear up the armor of optimism and prepare your soul for the better future. Yes?
The power of optimism is that it breeds dignity and honor. Without it, people tend to throw over the hood of despair. And what does despair do, but lead us to disillusionment. In its own part, disillusionment has a far more nefarious role. When mixed with the rhetoric of cynicism and anger, it causes people to say and do stupid things. -HP
No matter where you are in this discussion philosophically or politically, the economy is coming back. Already, the American consumer is getting more active. The fact that we’re coming out of a steep recession means that there is pent-up demand for things – like new cars, furniture, clothing. We’ll start taking more vacations. We’ll go out to eat more often.
In short, that means that Americans will be consuming more and more energy. And like any commodity, when there is more demand, prices go up. It doesn’t matter if you believe that global warming is happening or not, energy conservation is key. We need a “green hedge” on inflation.
The ‘green hedge’ works like this: we plan for the future and do everything that we can do to trim our consumption of energy now before prices go up. Every home and business can (and should) reduce energy consumption by 30%. That sound like a lot and it is a big goal, but even if we reduce energy consumption just a little, collectively we can make a huge difference. We can stave off hyperinflation in energy prices that have been predicted by world economists ever since the price of oil broke $100 per barrel back in 2007.
We can start by doing simple things like update our homes with Energy Star lighting and appliances.
We can unplug battery chargers for cell phones, computers, and cameras.
We can change habits like turn off lights, televisions and computers when we’re not using them.
We can adjust thermostats – warmer during summer, cooler during winter.
After you’ve done all of that, then you can advance to things like insulate your walls, ceilings and doors; update windows with double pane and roofs with reflective composites; add a pre-cool misting system to your central air conditioning system; ventilate your attic with solar powered fans; install tankless water heaters; and the ultimate – you can add solar panels to your home or business.
Not everybody wants to be a tree hugger, so I say “don’t.” Be smart instead. Plan for the future and ACT NOW. Put your Green Hedge into motion before hyperinflation hits you where it won’t grow back.
CNN MONEY: How the profits stacked up – Nov. 2, 2009
SP500 profits are up
Good solid news for the economy. On other online venues, I’m known for my high optimism for the recovery of the US economy. As reported by CNN Money, the recovery is producing profits for key SP500 corporations – the companies that are in the best position to tell us if the economy is on the rebound. Apparently, this is the case.
For a little perspective, one should also note that only a year ago people were trembling in their boots that we were headed toward a 1930s style depression. Thanks to an unprecedented balancing act by two Presidential administrations and an uncharacteristically cooperative and speedy Congress, we ducked that bullet. Okay, we ended up with the Great Recession – but really, it cannot be understated how badly things could have gone.
Of course now comes the hard part… sustaining that growth and building back the jobs. Stay tuned! - HP
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