Strong U.S. Job Growth and Economic Defiance

The economy looks pretty healthy at this point according to an article in the NY Times. Strong U.S. Job Growth Shows Economy Is Defying Challenges The resilient strength of the economy important consideration because as manufacturing returns there is naturally going to be some need to not only create the business environment but also encourage the mechanics to make it more sustainable in the long run.

Business cycles of ups and downs are common in almost every economy but these wide cycles are not necessary. As more information about our economy comes forward through big data we are likely to be able to see how to create more net positives and find a balance between normal market forces and where to support adjustments for healthy change. 

We can create a type of perpetual sustainability through more scientific data and economic understandings. It takes time to create such knowledge but considering increased in information and economic knowledge we are likely to find at some point. The digital era has adjusted some of the economic fundamentals.

According to the article...

-336 Jobs added in September.

-33rd Consecutive month of growth. Something is working here.

-3.8% Unemployment rate. Seems like there is a need for additional workers, productivity and technology infusion.

-Index of consumer sentiment is up.

-66% Small Business Feels Healthy 77% Happy With Cash Flow

-Recession looks like it is in rear view mirror. Inflation easing.

-Some jump in pay $17 per hour.

Job Data and Inflation (10/06/2023)

When inflation is cooling and employment is strong it can have possible long term benefits assuming general inflation doesn't continue to rise. i.e. purchasing power. One other avenue is encouraging older Americans to get and stay involved in labor market could improve labor pool. IMF provided a report Drivers of Labor Force Participation  and Federal Reserve of Bank of Atlanta discussion Labor Force Participation. Current Labor force participation rates are 63.2%. YCharts Labor Force Participation. You may also be interested in Labor Market and Inflation.

Manufacturing Returning Back to the U.S.: Immigration, Human Capital and Technology

Manufacturing is returning back to the U.S. and that is a good thing. Wages should hopefully rise to meet the new realities of the market. According to the article below it appears that there are partner firms also participating in reshoring investments so it is a type of pack investing. 

As manufacturing returns and employment numbers stay strong we will need to 1.) increase the pool of labor or 2.) increase the productivity of labor. 

Increasing the pool could take the route of encouraging current illegal immigrants to come forward, get registered into special company sponsored training programs and get them to work not only in a taxable job that helps the economy but also on a path to some type of visa. 

Maybe a trial work visa could lead to citizenship. i.e. tax revenue, documentation and reduce the shadow market until a policy can be decided by both Democrats and Republicans (Hopefully bi-partisan)

While this might be practical for those who are already here, it is unlikely to be politically practical and we don't want to encourage more illegal immigration without vetting people through proper channels. Thus we might need to wait until the border is secure before implementing such a program. (Just a thought...feel free to discard.)

The other thing that of course is necessary is to raise the value of our current human capital through training/education to increase productivity and in turn match that with new technology to further improve available skills to these emerging industries.

Human capital and technology is likely the primary method of solving this problem but the other method might come in handy down the road as we ponder at some point what to do with those immigrants that are currently here? I wonder what everyone comes up with. Let us wait and see.

‘Made in USA’ Revival Sparks Building Boom, 506% Rally in Value

Escanaba City Council Regular Meeting (October 05, 2023): Trick or Treat, Historic Districts, Retirement, Performance Evaluations and Vacancies

As far as meetings go this was an interesting one because it covered grant money, kids Halloween, retirement plans, historic district, and performance evaluations. You can watch for yourself. Things are moving along well and lots of different activities. I like the extra curricular activities with the kids, its a nice touch about doing something special for the little ones that can't have candy.

-October 5th, 2023 Escanaba Agenda

-News article. $East Ludington Grant$

-Trunk or Treat for non candy kids.

-Discussion on MERS

-I agree that the young City Manager is doing well. He is thorough and really looks at things in a serious way. Seems like a good hire.

-Historic District. Its Halloween so we can eventually have a whole area with scary houses!

-Performance evaluation. I would generally provide some documentation of it. Typically I would keep it the same as the past unless there is some reason not to. If nothing else include a letter/note. One of the members said she would like something in the file so that covers it.

Michigan FEMA Grant AFG Program (Firefighter Motivation)

$2.5 +$1.1 million in Firefighter grants awarded in MI. The grants are always appreciated by these departments that must fund operations and equipment. We need some more for the UP because of our rural location we don't have a strong tax base. There is some need for $15-20K in air bottles for one department and some training monies to help with multiple departments. Equipment gets old and so it needs to be replaced and that of course costs $$$. One issue is the complexity of applying for Federal grants for smaller departments. Making that easier for non professional grant writers would be helpful. 

Companies and community grants are easier I think but its smaller pools of resources. 🤔

This is what I found searching around....

MI $2.5 FEMA FF Grant

MI $1.1 HS FF Grant

Wall in Texas to be Built: What should we do with the rest of the border?

The wall between U.S. and Mexico is going to be built in some parts of Texas. The wall was once a highly contentious issue but over time we see fluidity of decision making and adaptation cross party in a way that helps solve a problem for migrants and for the US. This is not the time for "see we are always right" because the truth is no one is right all the time and when they are it is usually only partially the answer. Wise people know that! Socratic Wisdom

DHS International Barrier Construction 

AP Texas Wall Construction

Do I wish there was a wall? Nope...I wish light monitoring would be enough but its not. There are people out there in desperate need and they will risk their lives of their families lives to get here for a better life. If immigrants are not processed correctly they often go right into the shadow market and we lose much of their full development capacity and the fruits of their labor. 

We not only lose tax revenue, we also strengthen the shadow markets where all types of bad things can happen out of necessity. The shadow market costs countries a lot of money and contribute to all types of other issues that range from crime all the way over to poor economic resilience. US shadow market is approximately 7.3% of GDP so its a A rating versus other countries. Not too shabby but lots of room for improvement. International Shadow Markets

Hopefully, the wall will help solve some of these problems...its not perfect but we use the tools we have at this time to solve problems. Tomorrow, we will likely have new tools and perhaps we can turn the metal into jungle gym kids playgrounds or something (My idealist desires!). A pure technology solution is likely about 10-15 years out more or less based on cost and technology adaptation. 

You may be interested in seeing how Cognitive Flexibility can be used by all decision makers to improve overall outcomes and outputs. Each of us has that capacity to some extent and it can be used in groups to foster cultures of creative solution making. Ideology limits adjustment of initial ideas into workable and practical solutions. You may want to look at some science literature on Cognitive Flexibility.

The question we face is should we build the rest of the wall or use current cheaper monitoring technology for the other areas? (Use creates markets but it may or may not be sufficient in all areas to solve the problem sufficiently) That of course opens lots of other political, financial, immigration, etc. questions. Yet its a root question. There are no "right" or "wrong" but just issues of practicality and capacity. Thoughts?

Why Bi-Partisan Still Works: A Time for Constructive Dialogue

We hear about all the changes in politics going on and the partisan issues both within parties and cross party. We know that in any team management we want people who keep their eye on the big picture of the health of the nation and are willing to listen to each other to create gains in effective management. 

Some disagreement is necessary to change up ideas and encourage thoughtful dialogue. However, knock down drag out fights often create more issues. The Secret Sauce of Effective Legislation

(Just in case your wondering, not that it should matter because I'm just a regular American guy. I'm a light R Rino-Dino Old Guard. Meaning, I like good ideas and good people to think constructively about solutions. The other stuff is not only a distraction but at a time when we need solutions over things like budgeting, social cohesion, institutional enhancement, so on and so forth I don't think hyper politics will get us there in a constructive way. I might be wrong because history has its own path but in general I lean toward constructive civil dialogue and togetherness in shared over the horizon thinking. Kind of a dumb idea I think in today's world. 😢)