Written by: Samira Fatehyar
Synopsis
Listen to the podcast here.
As we shift into the holiday season, many of us aren’t as aware of all that’s been going on in the financial markets. It’s the nature of the season. We should be focusing on the cheer that comes with this merry season. But, the economy never sleeps and that’s probably for the best. We’ve gotten a lot of mixed signals from many economic indicators. We’ve also received some much needed good news about vaccines becoming available soon. But as I’ve stated in the past, the recovery cannot truly begin until people feel safe to go back to work, school, shop, and go about their lives in a somewhat normal fashion. And yes, there will be a so-called “new” normal, but it is my belief that with every disaster or challenge, lots of good can come out of it. Lots of great minds are currently at work and I have no doubt that things will get better, as long as we can identify and admit that there are problems that need fixing.
In this week’s episode, we’ll start off as we always do with an economic recap. I had the great pleasure to talk with Mr. John Boyd Jr. about the commercial real estate market and the impact Covid-19 has had on it. Finally, we end with the European View where we look at the European Union’s current budget hold out.
Economic Update
Covid Stimulus Package
Last week, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified before Congress in regards to the need for a Covid-19 pandemic relief package. There were many takeaways from the testimonies, but the biggest thing was the agreement from both Powell and Mnuchin that a Covid-19 relief package needed to be passed and soon. The fact of the matter is that our economic strife is directly related to the pandemic. So, if we look at the Covid numbers and trends currently, we can start to understand what we are up against.
Graph 2
7 Day Moving Average of Covid-19 Deaths in the US from Jan. 22nd- Dec. 2nd, 2020
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailytrendsdeaths
If we take a look at Graph 2, above, we can see the 7 day moving average of Covid-19 deaths in the US. We hit a peak in April, but have not reached those levels since. That’s great news, but with the holiday season, it makes sense that many health officials are worried about rising cases and deaths as this is the time of year when we all want to spend time with each other. It’s interesting to note that many cities and counties around the country are imposing stay-at-home orders again. This of course means more economic hardship. So what should be done?
The fact is, many of the stimulus programs that were meant to help us ended July 31st. That means that soon it will be 5 months without any new stimulus for those that are struggling from the economic hardships the pandemic has caused.
The fact that the government is telling people we need to shut down and then is unwilling help them while they struggle, is just mind boggling to me. And if you really think about it, it makes sense that Secretary Mnuchin, a Republican, is advocating that we keep the economy open. It’s the cheapest option, economically speaking, minus of course the loss of life. Republicans pride themselves on their stance of limiting government spending, which I applaud them for. But, at some point, we all need to get together and compromise on a solution for all. The Democrats are advocating for shutdowns all across the country, but then they are not able to support people’s livelihoods because of political gridlock. And of course, it’s all a political show. Neither side wants to compromise or show weakness. I understand all of that. But when will we realize that the more we pander and the more we avoid this, the worst it’s going to get for the American citizen?
Am I advocating for socialism? No, but as I’ve said in the past, the government is so willing to help large corporations and industries that are insolvent, but is not willing to help the individuals that power those very corporations. I just don’t understand it. The government cannot have it both ways with shutting everything down and not spending a dime to help people. The government is more than capable to find ways to incentivize people to stay home but hasn’t been able to do that. I mean, if we take a look at farmers, we incentivize many of them to not grow certain crops in a form of a subsidy. So, there must be a way to incentivize people to stay home. It’s not rocket science. We’re all pretty worn down from the effects of the pandemic, but unfortunately the pandemic is not done with us.
So what has Powell and Mnuchin advised Congress to do? They both are advocating strongly for a Covid-19 stimulus package to be passed immediately. Chairman Powell believes that there is still a lot of uncertainty moving forward. Of course, we are hopeful that the vaccines will be out and be proven effective, but there is not guarantee of this. Powell stressed that this new funding would act as a “bridge” from where we are currently to next year when vaccines will be available and hopefully prove effective. He went on to warn that if we don’t do this now, we could end up losing parts of our economy. This would not only slow down any sort of recovery, but would be extremely detrimental.
Both Mnuchin and Powell support a $908 billion relief package. Though Mnuchin is in favor of prioritizing left-over funds of $140 billion for a second round of PPP loans to small businesses. Unfortunately, as we now know it, about half of the PPP loans given out at the beginning was given to large corporations. How can we make the government efficient and effective with distribution of funds? My guess is as good as any. But the main point I’m trying to get across is that we need to have an actual plan in place. Are we going to shutdown? If we are, we need to make sure we can pay people to keep them afloat. Are we not going to shutdown? Then we need to do what we can, to mitigate as many deaths as possible. I’m not an epidemiologist, but I am an economist and the flip flopping and inconsistency of actions is just tiring. We, as a country, need to get our act together!
Construction Spending
In a surprising twist, construction spending for the month of October actually rose an estimated 1.3% according the US Census Bureau. This is very much welcoming news as the previous month of September revised its numbers to a 0.5% drop. It’s interesting to note that that majority of the construction spending is for residential real estate instead of commercial and public.
The residential sector saw a 2.9% seasonally adjusted annual rate. This is great as many people are moving from urban areas to suburban areas. Will the trend last? Well, like with everything else in the business world, the real estate industry is cyclical. Many have stated that we are currently at the top of the market, which indicates that the bottom is coming soon. But, I don’t have a crystal ball as to when that will happen. The truth is, we are seeing overvalued prices all over the country. I suspect this will continue until everyone that wanted to move out of urban areas into suburban areas have. And with those urban areas, comes higher salaries and higher purchasing power in the suburban and rural areas. Until this movement of money settles down, we won’t see the real estate market settle down and come back to the fundamentals. A similar thing is happening in the equity markets right now, but that’s a whole different discussion. In times of panic, people tend to follow the herd to feel a sense of safety. It’s basic behavioral economics and human nature. Though it creates inefficiencies in the market, it’s something that will continue to happen because we’re all human. So, yes I do suspect that residential construction spending will continue to increase for a while longer. And please remember that this increase was back in October, we don’t know how things faired for November and will fair in December.
Graph 3
Total Nonresidential Construction Spending October 2015-2020
https://groundbreakcarolinas.com/nonresidential-construction-spending-unchanged-in-october-says-abc/
Now, if we turn our attention to nonresidential construction spending we see a different picture. If we take a look at Graph 3, above, which shows total nonresidential construction spending we see that it’s been on the decline since February of 2020. Looking at the public sector, we actually see that October saw a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1%. In the report, it was highlighted that educational construction saw a 1.1% seasonally adjusted annual rate and highway construction saw a 1.6% seasonally adjusted annual rate. This is interesting since we weren’t seeing much happening in these areas for sometime.
If we take a look at the 16 nonresidential subcategories, we see that 9 of them were down on a monthly basis and 9 were down on an annual basis. Of those that were down on a monthly basis, that included: Lodging, Office, Commercial, Religious, Amusement and Recreation, Power, Sewage and Waste Disposal, Water Supply, and Manufacturing. On the annual basis that included: Lodging, Office, Commercial, Educational, Religious, Amusement and Recreation, Power, Conservation and Development, and Manufacturing. So from this list, we can see that Lodging, Office, Commercial, Religious, Amusement and Recreation, Power, and Manufacturing are the hardest hit sectors, which makes sense. The Covid-19 pandemic has directly affected each of these sectors. The overall commercial real estate sector is reeling from the economic crisis the pandemic has left it in. But I honestly see this as a positive, because many of these areas were already undergoing changes, granted not as fast, but I’d rather have the band-aid ripped off than a slow painful process. This is a great time for innovation in the real estate sector! So many great things are going to be coming out of it and I honestly can’t wait to see it.
Corporate Real Estate And Covid
Corporate Real Estate and Covid
A Conversation with John Boyd Jr.
John Boyd, Jr. is a Principal of The Boyd Company, Inc., Princeton, NJ. Founded in 1975 on Princeton, NJ’s historic Nassau Street, The Boyd Company, Inc., is one of the nation’s most experienced and trusted corporate site selection firms. Boyd’s clients include Boeing; Chevron; Pratt & Whitney; PepsiCo; Visa International; Shell; Honda Motor Company; Hewlett-Packard; JP Morgan Chase; Sanofi; Royal Caribbean Cruises; Dell and TD Canada Trust.
John has worked on a wide range of site selection projects that have resulted in billions of dollars of capital investment and tens of thousands of new jobs in the U.S., Canada and offshore. John is a popular speaker at conferences around the U.S. and Canada on corporate relocation, economic development, commercial real estate development and politics/legislation impacting corporate site selection. John's expert perspectives on corporate site selection, economic development and the real estate industry are routinely featured in the global news media. To follow The Boyd Company on Twitter, you can visit twitter.com/theboydcompany. To listen to the interview, please check out the podcast. The following is a transcript of our conversation.
Samira: First off, thank you, John, for coming on the podcast and sharing your insight on the commercial real estate market.
John: It's great to be here. I appreciate you having me on!
Samira: Of course. So I think a big question on everyone's mind these days is, what will commercial real estate look like when the COVID-19 pandemic is over? What trends are you starting to see emerge?
John: Well, I think you have to start with the major trend of the remote workforce. This was a trend prior to COVID 19, prior to the COVID 19 pandemic, roughly 5% of the US workforce work remotely, COVID has clearly accelerated the trend of working from home. Roughly 50% of the workforce today is working from home. Major employers are embracing this model because of the enormous cost savings associated with reducing your class, say office space commitments, and let's face it, look, HR departments look at providing a work from home option as a very valuable recruitment tool. Most people want the option to work from home, at least in a hybrid type basis. So we're not predicting the death of the traditional office place, but now we see more office space resembling more of a space shuttle where there's more of a hybrid model. And the result of that for the commercial real estate market is projects are getting smaller. The average square foot per worker today is roughly 150 square feet per worker. That's down from roughly 350 square feet back when our firm was founded back in 1975. So projects are getting smaller. That's the number one impact that COVID-19 has had. Other impacts on the commercial real estate markets.; we're seeing a migration towards more suburban markets, more rural markets, and we're seeing developers really accelerate new mixed use developments to provide the types of lifestyle amenities that tech workers leaving San Francisco and New York want to have in a lower cost suburban market. So those are two major trends that we're seeing it. Another trend of course, is the, the re-shoring trend. One of the silver linings of COVID-19 is it's really put a spotlight on our nation's over-dependence upon supply chains, particularly in Asia. So we're seeing a number of projects for sure, back to the US and the message for developers around the nation is to be prepared to have shovel-ready turnkey sites, both industrial and office real estate available for this new wave of corporate investment washing back to the US.
Samira: No, that's interesting. I didn't know about the workers square footage metrics. I think that's really interesting and probably really true. Do you see collaborations happening in the office and then like individual work happening at home type of hybrid that you were trying to talk about?
John: Yes, we envisioned more of a hybrid model where the traditional office being in the office nine to five, Monday through Friday. I think those days are over for many committed companies, again, because of the dramatic savings with reducing your class A office space commitments. So we see more of a hybrid model. There will be a role for a collaborative workspace or shared workspace and a post COVID 19 economy. We think office A la cart is something that is a trend that we're going to see more and more of where you reserve office space on a need-be basis.
Samira: That's interesting. Yeah, I had no idea about that and it makes complete sense. You've worked with many high profile companies in site selection and I'm sure you've witnessed quite a lot of trends over the past few decades. In terms of climate change, are you seeing companies not developing as big of a space because of climate change and/or are they turning into more green type build-outs?
John: That's a great question and a major site selection driver today is social impact and ESG. And of course, climate change falls under that umbrella, companies are incentivized to be more environmentally friendly for a myriad of reasons. Companies want to reduce their carbon footprints. Companies want to lower their utility bills. All of that is providing a free market rationale for companies to be environmentally conscious. And we're also seeing cities or in states around the country use the availability of green friendly power as an economic development tool. We saw that in Northern Nevada several years ago with the Tesla Gigafactory, we see states like Iowa and Nebraska leverage wind power to attract data centers. We see central Washington state and upstate New York leverage the abundance of low cost green friendly hydroelectric power to attract energy intensive data center projects.
Samira: Oh, that's great. And it's a great push for green everything, a green economy so to say. So you've helped several clients in Canada. Have you seen any stark differences between the real estate market in Canada versus the US?
John: I'm happy that you mentioned Canada. Our firm has a long history in Canada. We're actually just as well known in Canada as we are here in the States. My dad, when he started our firm back in 1975, he lived Nassau Street with a working knowledge of French. Our first projects were related to Bill 101, which was the controversial bill that mandated French as the official language of Quebec. And of course it created a sea change at corporate investment, leaving Montreal to Toronto. And over the years, we've had Canadian site selection projects for SunLife, PepsiCo Canada. We did their Canadian headquarter project and Mississauga. TD Canada Trust is another client of ours. And, you know, we're in an era of corporate cost cutting and Canada has always positioned itself as a low cost alternative to the US because of the favorable exchange rate. And because of Canada's nationalized healthcare system. An employer pays roughly 40% of their annual payroll costs and healthcare costs here in the US. In Canada, they pay closer to 16%. So that translates into millions of dollars of savings for companies in Canada. That's always been a site selection driver for Canada, but today that's very important given the cost cutting mode that companies are in. Other advantages, Canada enjoys today is its liberal immigration policy, which makes it easier for tech companies to attract or to recruit the best talent from around the globe. And of course, Canada is progressive free trade policies. Canada is the only G-7 nation that has free trade agreements with all the G-7 nations. They have a network of 14 free trade agreements that covers roughly 60% of the world's GDP, including the $20 trillion European Union market. So Canada presents a lot of advantages for site seeking companies. Canada also has a very aggressive R&D tax credits, and Canada has invested very aggressively in artificial intelligence. Our firm’s bizcosts.com data bank recently named Montreal as the world's premier market for banking related artificial intelligence industry. We're seeing companies like Morgan Stanley and State Street associates move jobs to Montreal because of the abundance of artificial intelligence skillsets. Facebook and Google and Microsoft have major artificial intelligence hubs in Montreal. Of course, the university of Montreal is another major asset for the artificial intelligence district.
Samira: So knowing all of this, do you think that Canada will outpace the US real estate market anytime soon?
John: Well no, I wouldn't say that. I think it presents an opportunity for the US development community. It's a Rite of passage for Canadian companies as they grow and become a profitable to have a brick and mortar presence in the US. A big part of the South Florida winning economic development formula has been to attract Canadian investment. So we see similar opportunities for a number of markets throughout the US. The other economic development impact here, as you know, Canada really is emerging as a preferred nearshore alternative versus Mexico for the auto industry, for the aerospace industry and for different types of artificial intelligence projects, particularly in the banking industry.
Samira: Interesting. Yeah, you know, when we talk about automotive, Mexico always comes to mind, but it's interesting to see that Canada is also going to become you know, something big too. So that's great. In terms of economic development, what would you say are some of the most important factors cities need to be looking at during the COVID economy and in the future, and, you know, the future effects of COVID?
John: I think one of the impacts of COVID is it is forcing companies to really focus on traditional business climate factors. Companies are focusing on the cost of doing business, like never before they're focused on tax structures. One of the dominant themes we've seen in the development world over the past decade is a dramatic migration of wealth and business and people out of high cost, high tax states like California and New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey to lower costs and lower tax states like the Carolinas and Florida, Nevada, and Arizona. We expect that pace to take accelerate, given the cost cutting mode that companies are in given the COVID economic pandemic.
Samira: Interesting. Yeah, this is definitely true. And I'm seeing cities really align themselves towards, you know, different incentives as well to different companies. I think that'll be interesting over the next few years. You know, I'm in Reno right now, so I'm very familiar with Tesla and everything. We definitely gave them quite a bit of tax breaks, but I think cities won't have to sell themselves out so much to get these companies to come over here or to other places as well.
John: Well, you know, we call incentives a necessary evil. But it's true, incentives are highly contentious today. The public is very weary of giving major incentive packages to large publicly traded companies. I think that's one of the reasons we're seeing social impact play such a driver today in the site selection business. In order to make large incentive deals, more palatable companies really need to establish that they're going to not only create jobs, they're also going to create Goodwill in the community, and they're going to promote economic opportunity. A major part of Tesla's recent deal in Travis County was the relationship with Houston-Tillotson University is an historically black college. And I think we're going to see deals like that being be more commonplace during contentious incentive negotiation processes.
Samira: Interesting. Yeah, I had no idea about that, but that's good to know as well. In terms of our current political climate, do you see any incoming legislation that could impact corporate site selection or real estate in general?
John: Absolutely. Look, you know, re-shoring was happening prior to the COVID pandemic in large part due to the nation's reduced corporate income tax to 21%. Also our pro-business energy policy. The US is an exporter of energy, low cost energy as has been another recruiting tool for major manufacturers to come to the US along with other supply chain efficiencies associated with re-shoring back to the US and being closer to market. So, you know, increased tax rates are something that will present challenges for companies that want to re-shore, you know, climate change legislation again could also make it more difficult for companies to-from a dollar and cents perspective-to re-shore operations back to the US. In terms of the a new Biden administration, I think our clients are especially focused on what the makeup of the NLRB will be. And I think that the specter of a Bernie Sanders as a labor secretary, I think would be, would give caution to a lot of major corporations. You know, it brings back memories of Boeing, which is a client of ours. You think back to Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, she really became a national superstar when she stood up to Obama's NLRB and attracted manufacturing from Washington state to South Carolina. Of course, Boeing recently had another major expansion in South Carolina recently this year, in fact, so that's something that our clients are keeping an eye on politics today is a big part of site selection.
Samira: Yeah, no it's not only just, you know, the economics of it. It's definitely the politics of it as well. And as you know, you know, many corporations are currently facing bankruptcy. But as we also know in the business world, things are always changing. And when difficulties arise, you know, innovation and opportunity thrives, have you seen anything of that nature occur in the real estate market yet?
John: Yes, two things that, that come to mind, we're seeing the hotels, especially hotels and hospitality markets like Orlando and Las Vegas recalibrate to accommodate the remote worker. And Orlando and Las Vegas are tracking thousands of tech workers leaving Bay area. And so we're seeing that kind of a recalibrated marketing message for a lot of these hotel properties. I think that's interesting, and it's consistent with this live work and play model that we expect to be a dominant, continue to be a dominant real estate trend. And then look, I think another exciting area is this idea of ghost kitchens. Some of the nation's top celebrity chefs and developers are partnering and doing less, labor- intensive less real estate intensive ghost kitchens. And there's new synergies with the technology industry to have, you know, new apps being developed, where you can participate in your meal being prepared and all of that. So I think that's interesting. And now, lastly, I would talk about the millions of square feet of retail space that will not be coming back post pandemic. And this is some of the nation's most desirable commercial real estate, because it's very often located next to a major transportation corridor with plenty of parking and open architecture, which minimizes repurpose and construction costs. A lot of this real estate will be repurposed into exciting new mixed use developments, recreation, even housing, Class A, Class B office space and ghost kitchens, which I think is interesting.
Samira: I was not aware of the term ghost kitchens. Can you like elaborate more on what that is?
John: Yeah, it's essentially, it's a takeout only model where, you know, celebrity chefs and other noteworthy restaurants, again, can function in this, you know, it's a result obviously of the COVID lockdowns, but I think it's a model that makes a lot of sense. Even prior to COVID, the restaurant industry is really burdened by high costs. It's very expensive to operate a restaurant there's low margins. This takeout only model I think has legs. I think COVID established that people like to order from home and having a sort of interactive experience online where you place your order and can watch your meal prepare. I think that adds another sizzle, If you will, to the, to the sole concept. Again, our, our firm is we're headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey. I live and work most of the year in South Florida and South Florida has been a model for ghost kitchens, and it's been enormously successful in an emerging industry. And a lot of our developer clients, in addition to counseling major fortune 500 companies where to locate, we also provide strategic counsel to some of the nation's top developers, private developers, and we're getting calls almost every week to identify new opportunities in this emerging, exciting new industry.
Samira: That's really exciting, actually. And I think COVID acted as a catalyst for many of these commercial sectors, you know, retail dying. We all knew that, um, but COVID just, you know, rip the bandaid off, uh, quite quickly and in a way I think that's probably best, um, so that we can, you know, change things up faster. Um, the millennials where we're hoping for a more experiential, you know, uh, type of experience at malls and, and whatnot. And, um, my generation is all about that. So I think in a lot of ways COVID-19 actually helped, you know, minus all the deaths and everything like that. And people getting sick, I think it really has helped the real estate market. Um, and then lastly, do you have any general advice you'd like to leave our listeners with?
John: I think this is a really exciting time to be in the development world, as we begin to emerge from this crisis. I think that the vaccines are coming, the new therapeutics are coming. I think this is a time to celebrate innovation. And I think maybe the next generation of scientists and engineers to be inspired by this era of innovation and how quickly and rapidly God willing, we'll be able to distribute these vaccines and therapeutics in a way that's equitable and quick. I think that’s the silver lining here along with the, the re-shoring trend. I think we're going to see more and more re-shoring. It’s a rare issue in Washington that has bipartisan support. And that's a good thing.
Samira: Yeah, especially in our political climate, having something that everyone can agree on is rare. And we should really hold on to that. But with that, thank you so much, John, for coming on the podcast. And we do hope that we can have you on again.
John: Thank you. It was great to be with you.
European View
It’s been interesting to watch Covid-19 change so many things not only here in the US but also around the world. Europe has been interesting to follow throughout it all. This pandemic is greatly testing ties within the EU and if it will survive or if certain member states will pull a Brexit. Maybe this will end up strengthening the bond of the EU, who knows. One of the more contentious things, recently, has been the EU’s budget.
EU Budget
Lately there has been many headlines stating that both Poland and Hungary aren’t willing to cooperate on approving the budget set for 2021-2027, which also includes a recovery fund for the economic effects of the pandemic. Curious as I am, I decided to dive deeper into why. See, in the EU treaty, Article 2 refers to the rule of law and the EU has now tied the distribution of funds to the rule of law. So what is the rule of law? According to Article 2:
The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights.
Former Rule of Law Commissioner Frans Timmermans, explains that
In Europe after WW2, and the end of dictatorships in Portugal, Spain Greece, and again at the fall of the Berlin Wall, we have shaped our democratic societies on three principles: democracy, respect for the rule of law and human rights
Seems pretty simple, EU member states must respect certain fundamental rights. But, when a country’s behavior is now tied to whether it will receive funds or not is an interesting concept. As an American, it sounds mind-boggling. I mean sure, we’ve imposed heavy economic sanctions on other countries, but to do this to a country within your own union? Seems odd. You’d think that when the EU was formed they would have formed with like-minded countries and wouldn’t have fundamental differences like this arise.
So, let’s step back for a second and try to understand what’s truly bothering Hungary and Poland about this. In other words, what part of Article 2 does the EU think they are violating. Well, it really dates back to the mid-late 2000s, when certain countries started seeing more of a push towards nationalism, or putting the nation’s interests first. This is fine, but when you belong to a union, you have to make sure that these national interests don’t supersede the interests of the group. This becomes a delicate dance. But let’s also remember that the EU was formed in 1993, 27 years ago. From a historical perspective, it really hasn’t been very long and is very much in the experimental/infancy phase. So it’s normal to have all of these fights happening amongst the countries.
But, back to Hungary and Poland, they are now threatening to veto the budget and recovery fund because of the tie to the rule of law portion of the budget. I completely understand where these countries are coming from and I understand the side of the EU. Like I said, it’s a delicate situation and one that I will continue to keep my eye on.
The EU has been hit pretty hard by the economic effects of the pandemic. That cannot be overstated enough. But, throughout this whole crisis, at the end of the day, I’ve noticed that leaders often compromise and are able to find a resolution to their problems. This happened earlier in the year with emergency meetings to set up a type of Euro-bond. There were some holdouts but at the end of the day they all came around and ended up doing what was best for their people. My hope is that this trend continues in the EU. I do hope Hungary and Poland can reconcile their differences with the Union, but this is an issue that has been around for quite some time now. All we can do is wait and see what will happen next.
Compared to the US
Though, in the US, we don’t truly have a problem with withholding funds to certain states because of XYZ, we might very well start seeing something similar happening. Recently, there has been talk of allowing individuals to receive a $1,500 stimulus check in exchange for proof that they’ve received vaccination for Covid-19. This is a strange concept to me. Yes, I did talk about incentivizing individuals to do certain things earlier. But, I think this erodes into personal freedoms. To withhold much needed money because you want to somehow mandate vaccinations crosses a line and unfortunately, this approach will bring about a lot of resistance. I don’t know what the right way is, but I don’t think this is it.
Of course, it would be nice to have everyone vaccinated, but it’s not within my rights to impose it on another individual. At least that’s what our country was founded on. This is of course a very touchy subject and one that I certainly don’t have expertise in, but I’m calling it the way I see it. From an economics standpoint, I can tell you that people are starting to enter desperate times, especially if we don’t see something passing soon. My advise to Congress is don’t waste time and don’t hinge the money on people receiving vaccines. That method is only going to backfire.
Concluding Remarks
2020 has been a rollercoaster of a year. But, with every challenge and every obstacle, we end up learning and innovating more. This is the most important thing we need to remember. Yes, there are a lot of people suffering this holiday season. And we could focus on that, but I think it’s best we focus on what we can do on the individual level to help those around us. Granted, we need to know what’s happening out there. We need the facts and that’s why I dedicate my time to writing this blog and producing this podcast, because I want people to understand what really is going on. I hope you’ve enjoyed our episodes this year! It’s been a wild ride, but one that I’ve truly enjoyed.
This is my last blog post for the year. Don’t worry, I’ll be back next year. I wish everyone a Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year! May 2021 bring good health, prosperity, and joy to everyone! Cheers and thanks for being great supporters!