Brexit experts run for cover

For over two weeks, talking heads on financial TV have been poo-pooing the mere hint that the UK would decide to leave the sweaty clutches of the EU. They said the #Brexit would not happen. Too much pain would ensue, they said.


Ha ha.


The British people, sick of the massive influx of middle eastern rabble rousers and economic regulatory overreach from Brussels defied all odds and said "See you mates" to Europe proper.


Congratulations to the leave group. I hope you get what you wish for. To the stay group I'd say the UK has been around for a long time. It isn't going anywhere soon. Keep a stiff upper lip.


People all over the world are sick of the soul-crushing status quo. The political class everywhere has become too fat and complacent. It is blind to how its actions affect real people and businesses every day. Negative interest rates for example. Who do those serve? Big banks and government borrowers. Not you and me.


How can a person like you, who just wants to put some money aside for a safe return, survive on interest of .1% a year? To hell with the status quo.


When you empower people to make rules, that is what they will do. The impact of the rule is far less important to the paid law-maker than setting down the law in the first place. When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.


It is truly time to sharply limit the parliaments, the congresses and the politburos. I say they see themselves as licensed to enrich themselves without working, all at the expense of the invisible taxpayer. They should all be reduced to unpaid, part time volunteers. Cover their expenses for 4 meetings a year and that's it. We'd see a dramatic reduction in wasteful, ignorant spending.


The experts were wrong because they are in the same translucent thought bubble as the rule makers. Everyone says the same thing to each other until it seems undeniable. At least in that bubble.


Brexit shows us that things are much clearer outside the bubble the experts and the law makers live in. Bravo to the UK. Bravo.

Feeling good about giving money away.

A member of the stewardship committee for Dayton, Ohio's Annunciation Greek Orthodox church asked me to write about what stewardship (I dislike the word – a lot) means to me. I said "Sure." This is what I wrote:

We give freely to those we love.

And when we give to the church, we aren’t giving to a priest or to the building, but rather to the church family we care about — our loved ones.

Don’t we all take great pleasure in the thought of giving? We don’t give gifts with the expectation of getting something in return. No. Of course not. We do it because we feel joy when we make our family and friends happy.

Isn’t giving grand?

One of my favorite sayings is “Cast thy bread upon the waters, for you shall find it after many days …” That’s from the Book of Ecclesiastes. It has passed my lips many times over the years. I have found it true, and have seen that the universe, God, fortune, whatever, rewards genuine generosity as a matter of course.

For instance, in times of slow income or a depleted bank account, I give more away; to the church or to a charitable cause. And what invariably happens? More than I gave comes back! And usually quite quickly.

It’s as if the heavens recognize the difficulty of giving despite the real fear of not having enough, and they open up the spigots to return the favor.

Recall those times when you were asked for or volunteered to help. Was there a downside to saying yes? No. You gave freely, made someone else’s life easier or better, and you got to feel good about giving. It was a win-win every time, wasn’t it?

When we give to the church, we are giving to our friends and families. As I write a check or put in festival time, I think of Pete and Trina, Debbie and John, Helen, Tom, Dori, Angela, Nick, and Carrie, and of all the children that I can’t believe are growing up so fast. I give to the church because they love the church and I love all of them.

That’s a win-win. That’s stewardship.

Thursdays

Trivia nights at the Back Door bar in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan used to be my Thursday high point. That was more than 20 years ago. When I think about it I can picture my boozy but very bright friends. We'd go to the bar for trivia, win the contest and its $25 prize and then drink it all back, laughing and joking, and dancing with pretty girls.


Good times.


Now Thursday means the release of the BLS's weekly first-time claims for unemployment report and not much more.


Today, June 9, 2016, the unemployment claims fell by 6000. That positive weekly rate follows last week's alarmingly petite U.S. jobs report.


What does it mean? I don't know. But something is amiss.


My teen daughter has been looking for work at some local outlets and malls. She has talked to store employees and they are mad. The retailers work them past their expected hours and won't give them the flexible time they need, but were told they'd get. One former Nike store employee, a friend of my daughter's, told of requesting two weeks off in July. They asked for the time in the preceding November, eight months earlier. When the vacation time approached, the manager told the young man that he couldn't have the time off because "we have a business to run." Understandably the 16-year old quit. How could the store be so thinly staffed? Hmm.

A different store employee receiving my daughter's application said "Finally!" Again, the employee told my girl that work conditions were demanding and difficult, hardly worth the minimum wage pay. Nobody wanted a job there.


Maybe the latest government reports can be explained by these anecdotes. Workers are only able to get low paying, slave-like jobs because they are the only kinds of jobs available. As sick as they are of their jobs, they don't quit or risk them because there is no better work to have.


That explains the low unemployment claims report. On the other hand, because the available jobs treat employees poorly, and pay barely more than unemployment or welfare, there are few employees willing to take them. That explains the miniscule jobs report and the low, low labor force participation rate.


Unless pay increases, or employers find a way to make the jobs they have more desirable, these conditions aren't going to change.


Happy Thursday.