Juggling Dynamite

Every levered boom ends in bust–every one.  Whether it be Japan in the late 1980’s, the tech driven stock frenzy of the late 1990’s, America’s housing bubble of the mid 2000’s or China’s boom and the commodities bubble that followed.  Human behaviors are typical, and outcomes similar–worldwide.  There is much to be learned for those who wish to see and govern their choices accordingly.  The fallout in North Dakota (Newfoundland/Labrador, Alberta et al.) is sad for many but also text book.  See,  Plains crash: North Dakota’s oil patch, a humbling come down:

The fracking party is over, and a quiet desperation has descended on the state’s once-booming communities and the thousands of people who were drawn to them…

As for those still holding on to QE-ballooned financial assets, it’s still not too late to lower leverage and rein in capital risk.

Will equity investors take heed of the message on this man’s shirt after a 3rd market bubble in 15 yrs? No! pic.twitter.com/mVKquYP89y

— Cory Venable CMT (@CoryLVenable) May 18, 2016

The spread of exorbitantly priced, resort-style schools was possible only so long as the masses saw taking on debt as an affordable and necessary evil to launch a rewarding career.  But once that cost-benefit analysis no longer makes sense and personal debt levels have become toxic, stubborn weights that hold back one’s ability to launch independence and build up savings, then the gig is up.  We are there today.  Non-traditional education models are an obvious solution that will continue to attract business away from bricks and mortar schools that bloated themselves beyond reach during the credit bubble of the last decade.  The good news is:  no one actually needs state of the art stadiums and buildings to learn. Thinking itself, is a very efficient activity.

Ben Nelson, Minerva founder, talks about the problems associated with the growing load of debt that follows many college graduates. Here is a direct video link.

Online degree universities are not what they used to be, and more students are taking advantage if new and improved programs to earn their diploma.  Here is a direct video link.

Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche have long dominated the world’s premium automotive ranks, making Germany home to some of the industry’s most profitable car brands. But Tesla Motors, whose Model 3 electric car enticed 325,000 would-be buyers to put down $1,000 deposits during the week of its debut in April, threatens them in a way that Toyota’s Lexus never did. Here is a direct video link.

And it’s not just autonomous land vehicles that are the future.

It’s no secret that America’s infrastructure is crumbling. We have more than 600,000 bridges and almost 70,000 of those desperately need repairs. To secure the future of our infrastructure we must have timely and effective inspections but currently inspections involve costly teams of divers performing time consuming, often dangerous and always tedious work. Maybe there’s a better way, like a fleet of autonomous robotic boats. Here is a direct video link.