Academic-Capital

We must consider that these behaviors are driven by deep seated psychological distortions and such aggressions won't stop without better policies. Understanding and tracking these behaviors on a local level can make a difference researching behaviors through better reporting and tracking ( Track and Solve Strategy ).  

IMF states that US and China will power international growth but some countries will be left behind. Emerging markets may not have the capital to power out of the pandemic. That might leave two large countries growing as emerging markets try and find an escape hatch. We may find new challenges come to true light as countries power back up to a competitive status. I wonder how some of these changes will impact the supply chain networks of the US and China? 🤔 Companies seek resources and if the two countries (US and China) are creating contracts it will impact the global flow of information and resources. That means there could be some reorientation of supplier networks.    

When problems companies that will be around in the future adapt and adjust. Incidents like the blocking the Suez Canal create risks for companies that rely on those products to keep operations going. We also cannot ignore the geopolitical pressures that are in play from COVID, global warming and US manufacturing reemergence. Conducting an environmental scan can help to determine risks to U.S. companies and why they may want to rebalance their supply chains to include a certain percentage from the U.S./Canada and Mexico. Read  Environmental Scan Statistically every supply chain will have a disruption at some point. Yet this incident perked the ears of the U.S. business community that may want to adjust their supply chain strategies. The ship will likely be dislodged in the coming days but the incident does perk ears in terms of long-term risks of supply chain disruption in the U.S. and abroad. If your company relies on imports and you have a 2-3 week delay 1.) Is there local capacity to

Hate and rage comes from a deep dark place where chronic pain and emptiness lead people to act in destructive ways. When horrific things like this happen we often look desperately for some sense of an explanation. Those causes are likely many but at the root seems to stem from the same mental health issues. As our science advances we are likely going to find better ways of dealing with mental health problems and help people before such atrocities occur.  At the moment we are left with gaps in our understanding on how to handle and manage hate driven violence. It makes no difference what race, religion, ethnic, etc... of the perpetrator as the damage is felt in different communities. An investigation will help determine motive and whether it was a hate based crime and/or something else (...personally I'm seeing this as having another root cause🤷).   What we do know already is that there were prior mental health issues and a bent towards the use of violence to solve problems. The in

Children are piling up on the boarder and we need to decide how to handle the crisis. We will want to be empathetic to these children and their plight in a way that maintains the natural boundaries between two countries. Finding a solution might be difficult because each option has hits own pitfalls. However, we might want to explore helping the children in Mexico through the use of orphanages and child centered foreign policy initiatives.  Within 60 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border are numerous orphanages that would appreciate additional financial, academic and medical support ( Even better if corporations sponsored some of the needs. Escanaba Polo Mallet Company donates some of its start up profits to help these orphans. ). We may consider funding these orphanages and expanding their capacities to help children abandoned with the goal of reuniting with parents. Such children will have access to education and healthcare from caring staff instead of a chain link fence and border guard.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testify before the House Financial Services Committee. You can read her statement HERE.  Notice she said the Treasury is tasked with increasing small business and entrepreneurship. Helping micro-businesses and entrepreneurs in rural communities. 😊

 Louisville Kentucky. Just outside Joes Crab Shack.  

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres discusses the danger of growing extremism. He also discusses how these groups are becoming more internationally connected and a bigger threat to countries. We are just sort of becoming aware of these dangers in the U.S. A very good article that outlines what is occurring and why the international community is concerned. We are still struggling with how serious we want to take these issues and we find that some groups are getting free passes only because we don't have the mental framework to see the motives behind many crimes. HERE

  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan begin talks with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Yang Jiechi. Discussions range in topics but what is of particular interest is how cyber related espionage has become an important part of international affairs. Such behaviors go against good conscious and the spirit of free trade. All societies, even the global one, should have some rules that all countries agree with in terms of appropriate business affairs. Human rights was raised as an essential issue for both countries. We know there are lots of different dark spots in history from many different countries and these are a shame to our species. Its where people go from here that will make the biggest differences in our line of societal development.

Unemployment claims not looking rosy for week ending March 13th, 2021. You may read the Department of Labors March 18th press release HERE . Following trends is often more telling than a single week. Sometimes there are natural fluctuations in the market that are going to impact employment. One should used a wider lens when making educated market guesses. 

The world is in constant change as the free hand pushes the market in directions of its choice. Nations that can perceive these changes can better align their efforts to wiggle themselves into a stronger competitive position.  Understanding emerging economic systems rests on applying explanatory theory as new phenomenon unfold in real time. Transactional clusters theories offer opportunities to understand how ground level innovation occurs and how new knowledge influences local economic success. Delta County (DC) Michigan holds in its possession underutilized shipping infrastructure and a small business community that can benefit by implementing stronger pro-investor policies. Start-Ups and Incumbent Firms Impact Economic Growth: Start-ups are innovative by their very nature and attract the appetites of larger incumbent firms that devour innovations to develop novel products/services. Attracting new business to Delta County and juicing these businesses with investment capital can make

The Justice System is imperfect, made up of imperfect people, that live in an imperfect world and make imperfect decisions. Sometimes decisions make sense and sometimes it looses its logic completely. Feedback loops to the Justice System is helpful to create stronger systems that reflect the needs of people. Feedback is not so much a criticism as an opportunity for improvement.  Building trust means always acting with a level of integrity in a way that leads to the best outcomes for all parties involved. The authority is thus bound to a moral value system that enhances the functioning of a wider community. Because of the limited resources (financial and human) there are choices as to what cases to investigate and which ones to not expend resources. Those choices may be practical in nature but should not be based in racial, religious, or political affiliations.  What we want to avoid is people engaging in criminal behavior with the belief that certain groups will receive preferential tr

There is a right way and a wrong way to conduct business. Making money should be done in a legitimate fashion with a real product that has meaningful value for consumers. When people feel they are purchasing one product but receive something they feel cheated! All business and commerce is based on trust and when people defraud consumers they damage that trust. Countries with large black markets often have the lowest growth rates and the most corruption.  

Communities in the U.P. are often not connected as well as they should be which in turn limits their ability to navigate the new Digital Economy. From an economic standpoint places like Delta County offer have underexplored opportunities for tourism and small batch advanced manufacturing. It also carries potential as a distribution/assembly hub and the short term rental market for Digital Nomads.  Well....maybe....assuming we can find the wall plug!🤯 Connecting U.P communities with the wider global world helps to encourage stronger opportunities to develop and attract global interest on social, recreational, and investment (i.e. economic manufacturing opportunities in Delta County) potential. The following was taken from an email press release.  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  March 8, 2021 CONTACT: James Hogge 231-944-7633 Bergman Introduces Rural Broadband Window of Opportunity Act Washington  - Today, Rep. Jack Bergman introduced the  Rural Broadband Window of Opportunity Act  to level the

 A recent hack, by what is believed to be a state sponsored entity, sought to gain access to business information on 30,000 businesses. That is a huge hack with massive amounts of sensitive information being passed covertly from email servers to state actors.  The U.S. is always going to play catch up until business and government stakeholders decide to bump the infrastructure to the next platform which moves us further into the Information Age and adaptation of  businesses into the  Digital Economy.   

Remarks by President Biden as Senate passes the $1.9 trillion Covid relief plan by a 50-49 vote. You can read the bill HERE . You might have an easier time searching for things your interested. There is a lot of different kinds of things that include functional aspects like updating our data infrastructure to "good will" items such as helping people keep their apartments/homes.  American Relief Plan Passes Senate 03-06-2021  

We don't often think that religious leaders like Pope Francis and Shia Muslim cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani have much to do with business success. To the influence of religious leadership it important to understand that such figures are opinion makers that give direction to large swaths "of the faithful". What they say matters in terms of peace and commerce. History is full of examples where religion was the chisel that created societies (and destroyed some). While religion is pure, people are not always; and some have distorted religious imagery for political gain. "The Meeting" Between the Pope and Shia Cleric sends a prime message of "Peace/Salam" to followers.  Peace is essential for sustainable economies built off of trade and the free exchange of ideas. Commerce and trade rest on the ease of movement and collective learning that leads to long term innovation (actually peace and overcoming challenge). War not only destroys lives, but also

What you want to see in any recovering economy is people returning back to work. It will help people keep food on the table and pay their bills. February 2021 Unemployment Rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics stands at 6.2% as the economy added 379K jobs. Because the leisure and hospitality industry has been hit hard it is a positive sign they are going back to work.  Delta County Michigan also has a leisure & hospitality industry that rests in part on locals and on tourism. Bars and restaurants are now opening and that will make a big difference in the County. You can see some statistics on Delta County at Data USA . Somewhere around 40% (Very generic non-hard number) of the employment would be impacted by re-opening.  Current Rates: adult men (6.0 percent), adult women (5.9 percent), teenagers (13.9 percent), Whites (5.6 percent), Blacks (9.9 percent), and Hispanics (8.5 percent) You can still see some of the disparities between different members of society. Some of this is

China's economy is expected to grow over 6% this year. Some believe this number could even be much more such as 7 or 8%.  While emerging nations can realize these gains, some of their growth will depend on the strategies the U.S. enacts.   For example, if less Chinese goods are making their way to American ports this won't bode well for Chinese manufacturers.  Assuming no major challenges or disruptions those numbers are possible if market conditions swing in their direction. 

Walmart craves to be part of the American manufacturing revolution. John Furner, President and CEO, Walmart plans to invest $350 billion in products made, grown and/or assembled in the United States. The initiative occurs over 10 year period, and projected to create approximately 750,000 jobs. That change might boast local manufacturing and in turn prompt other big box retailers to push their supply lines to manufacture nationally. If you are a U.S. based small manufacturer you will want to take note of emerging opportunities to create a stronger position. What Will be Produced? Investments hopes to encourage production for things like textiles, plastics, small electrical appliances, food processing, and pharmaceutical and medical supplies. Much of the effort will be focused on products that were traditionally produced in China but will now be pushed to produce in the United States.  Environmental Advantages? Fostering closer supply chains while keeping an an eye out for for reducing i

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell discussed the inching upwards of bond rates and how they impact borrowing costs for everyday business transactions. He hopes that inflation stays under 2% and indicates that the Fed has the ability to manage that rate properly. No one should expect that interest rates should stay the same forever (You might consider running out and pay off your credit cards!) so volatile markets should be short lived. Market nymphs dance as investors grip their coffee cups thinking about inflation and adjust their portfolios to prepare for the show.  1. The 10-year US government bond yield was up 0.07% to 1.54% 2. The Dow ( INDU ) finished down 1.1% and the S&P 500 ( SPX ) closed 1.3% lower. Unemployment should decline as the economy opens and recovers. While its not being said specifically in this video, we should consider how pro investment and manufacturing policies could have a big impact on labor hiring. Changes in manufacturing ripple the labor market as w

"Troubled" officers create difficult to overcome obstacles when developing a unified vision for the country. Accountability among bad actors isn't something we can take lightly as it is a primary trust issue that reverberates throughout our society. Whether we are talking about capital riots or anarchists taking to the streets, our very fabric of society requires maximum trust in our institutions and their ability to hold the Constitution and Universal Justice in high regard.  Great officers are remembered for their helpfulness, politeness and their use of wisdom when enforcing the law or coaching others to act appropriately. They are honored members of our communities and are those that create bridges among people and enhance trust in the system. On the opposite end of the spectrum officers that violate basic norms of society and engage in criminal misconduct without accountability quickly erode that trust. Law enforcement has been politicized by both sides of the politi

The U.S. Economy is poised to grow at a whopping +10% GDP in the beginning of 2021 according to Atlanta Federal Reserve calculations. That is great news for those who believe the economy is ready to roar back to life once the doors open. This year is expected to be a great year as companies begin to open up to the public, adapt to the the Information Age (Digital Economy) and manufacturing/investment starts to gain momentum.  The calculation is derived from a running total called GDP Now that is managed by the Center of Quantitative Economic Research . Here is some information provided on who they are and the calculations they complete....  "The growth rate of real gross domestic product (GDP) is a key indicator of economic activity, but the official estimate is released with a delay. Our GDPNow forecasting model provides a "nowcast" of the official estimate prior to its release by estimating GDP growth using a methodology similar to the one used by the U.S. Bureau of Ec

Bond markets are heating up and are likely to push up costs of other borrowing. If we need to press on the gas to push the economy to recover and then pull back we should expect higher bond yields 3-4% for perhaps 10 years. As economies rise the interest rates rise and the cost of borrowing increased. Bonds are often the fundamental source of inter-government lending and determine other costs in society and your household. 

This is going to be interesting. Radical ideology can be anywhere. It can be overseas and it can be in the U.S.. We must change our lens and implement a new strategy if we are going to tackle this at its more fundamental levels (in our neighborhoods and towns). One of the problems is that national leadership seems to know all the answers without asking the right questions.  Ranking member Mr. Grassley indicates they need data on extremism information and percentages but there is no real way to track without coding the information properly for researchers to understand. Universal Justice means we use the same kind of lens for hate and extremist behaviors in general. Seeing Jihadist, White Supremist, or any other type of extremism has the same fundamental root causes. I think FBI Director Christopher Wray did a pretty good job with is answer by indicating that the ideology encourages violence or breaks federal law they want to go after it. It is hard to turn raw intelligence into meaning