Juggling Dynamite

Dr. Jeffrey Sachs discusses his new book ‘Building the New American Economy.’ (Don’t mind the mindless banter the discussion begins with from the hosts).
Here is a direct video link.

One thing for sure, if the American people are counting on Trumpco to police itself against conflicts of interest, they will be sucked dry by them.  Apparently Mr Trump wouldn’t know a conflict of interest if it bit him on the nose.  Makes sense.  He’s always been a sales guy for his own private companies; it’s always been only the Donald looking after the Donald, and he’s trained his kids to do likewise.  But if Americans let this continue from their commander-in-chief they are duped indeed.  This will cost them plenty.

Every robust system needs to balance opposing interests in order to be strong and sustainable.  Government is not business and was never meant to be.  The two are supposed to be separate.  Business is business, and in recent years, publicly traded businesses have adopted a primary duty to their shareholders alone.  Government leaders meanwhile, are appointed to represent the best interests of not themselves, their buddies and families, but the nation and its people as a whole.  There are naturally competing interests that must be separated and acknowledged in order to be properly served and balanced.

The slogan needs to be:  Make representatives and advisers fiduciaries again! Wake up America, please.  See Trump’s ethics plan is even worse than you thought:

The Trumps make it hard for all of us to draw clear lines around some of these things because they don’t draw clear lines themselves.

More likely than not, the Trumps’ hesitation to do so stems from the simple reality that they aren’t serious about leaving their business dealings behind in the name of public service. Trump himself has historically been enamored of making money almost any way he can, and that behavior isn’t likely to change now -– especially if he saw his presidential bid from the very beginning as a marketing effort that could ultimately fatten his wallet, and not really as a crusade to make America great again.

For many years now, I have been pointing out that generally, Baby Boomers have been inept, short-sighted, undisciplined and irresponsible planners and financial managers.  This article, while a little tongue in check, pulls no punches on the subject:  The one group we can teach our children to loathe.  Why Baby Boomers are the most destructive generation in history:

This is the generation that cut its teeth protesting civil rights and Vietnam, who never stops talking about the Summer of Love, then gave us Iraq, Afghanistan and Donald Trump. They know all of Jimi Hendrix’s guitar solos, but are twice as likely to oppose a mixed marriage. These are the people who built massive, bankrupting pensions and social safety nets to coddle their own aging butts, and then are the first to roll their eyes when millennials complain a bachelor’s degree now requires $50,000 of debt.

Also watch the video here: “Why Millennials are worse off than their Boomer parents”.

Millennials have half the net worth that boomers had at their age. Their home ownership rate is lower, while their student debt is drastically higher.

Re the video report, a few observations are important though I think:  first, education is something we do for ourselves, not for others.  We can’t educate ourselves and expect the world to fall at our feet, but yes, one does need to find gainful employment to make a living, and starting out with a big debt burden is a huge disadvantage.  We should also realize that government underwritten student debt and outrageous education costs are two halves of the same whole.  They have both enabled each other to the detriment of students, our economy and our social stability as a whole.  We all need to focus on creative ways to reduce costs and minimize our use of debt from now on.

Second, figuring out how many children we can support given our finite time and financial resources, is part of being an adult.  Again, we can’t blame our choices in this on others. Third, deciding to live with extended family so we can build up savings for a house is not a bad thing or undue suffering, it is what immigrants and other smart workers have done for decades as a way to help new families get established.  Lastly, finding our own personal solution to a happy life is our individual responsibility and calling.  It is a wise goal, not a booby prize!

Boomers have led their children poorly.  And yet, as inverse mentors they are still valuable.  Adversity is often the making of us when we use it as fuel and there is no doubt that today’s Millennials, that are struggling, committed, self-disciplined and tenacious, will be tomorrow’s stable foundation and leaders.