How to fix the U.S Economy

Before I say a single word regarding economic policy, allow me to get a few things out on the table.  I am not a professor of economics, presidential candidate, or Wall Street analyst.  In fact, part of the reason I choose Marketing as a career is because Cost Accounting was boring and tough in college.

That said, I have a couple of thoughts on how our country can dig ourselves out of the current recession (that's right GW, it's time to come clean about the cold hard facts: the U.S. Economy is in a recession or a downward period in the cycle.)  

Issue #1

We must, I repeat must, do whatever it takes to drastically reduce and eventually eliminate deficit spending in Washington.  Ronald Reagan was a great leader, but he majored in economics from Eureka College.  Ever heard of it?  Me neither.  The point is, he came up with the idea that our country could spend its way out of a recession.  Not true. 

Instead we have managed to rack up the largest debt in U.S. history (and consequently devaluing the dollar for decades to come.)  As of March 2008, federal debt in the U.S hit $9.4 Trillion.  Congrats to us!  Our grandchildren's dollar should be worth about a quarter.

Issue #2

Personal debt.  While I'm on the issue of federal budget deficit, I should perhaps bring this issue to a more local level.  Namely, you and me.  We have contributed to, indeed created, the burgeoning debt crisis in this country.  In fact, we need the help of every American to reverse this trend.

Every time you or I spend just a little beyond our means and "cover it" by delaying the payments on our favorite piece of plastic we are elevating the problem.  In fact, another way to look at it is that our country has one giant credit card and one day our financiers (Japan, China, Middle East, and others) are going to want to collect. Either that or they're going to cut us off from the global cookie jar, forcing us into a depression.

Issue #3

Without getting into to a political debate, I think the third issue our country needs to address in order to fix the economy is Iraq.  Not just the war efforts, but the rebuilding of the entire country's infrastructure.   We are just now beginning to understand what Colin Powell meant when he said "We broke it, we bought it."  

And boy are we ever "buying" it at $200 Million dollars a day!   This year we surpassed the $1 Trillion mark and some have even estimated that we'll be close to $2 Trillion within the next year!  We must greatly reduce that level of spending or get used to the thought of our current recession lasting much longer than it should.  Enough said.

My Conclusion:

Good luck with whoever we place in the White House in 2009.  I sure hope they're bright and also know how to exercise a good dose of common sense.  In the meantime, the other 300 Million of us need to stop, I repeat STOP, spending more than we have in our wallets.

Please, do your part to help.

It's official: I have a twitter

Confession: I set up a twitter account while I was out in Phoenix working the Super Bowl earlier this year...and I liked it.

I'm not saying that I'm going to use it a ton.  But if I'm ever away from a computer and get a sudden urge to post a one liner, I now have the means to do so. 

(In case you didn't already notice it, I added the twitter widget to the right hand column of this blog.)

If you're on twitter, connect with me at: twitter.com/johninorlando

Happy Tweeting!

A Message from God

Dear World,

Happy Easter!

*This video contains graphic content and is intended for a mature audience


Love,
God

Random Google Rant, part 1

I love me some Google! Think about it. How many companies do you know of that launch as many free services that positively affect so many people all over the globe? Google Search, YouTube, iGoogle, Google Reader, Google Maps, Gmail, Docs and Spreadsheets, Google News, not to mention Blogger, and the list goes on and on.

Over the last few months, I have come to depend greatly on Google. In fact, ask yourself of all the online (or brick-n-mortar) companies out there, which ones would you miss the most if they disappeared tomorrow? John Moore at Brand Autopsy has an interesting series along those lines.

Of course, Google's services aren't completely free. Instead of subscriptions or fees, you "pay" for all of their services through advertising noise. Or another way of saying it is that marketers pay for your and my web services (and eyeballs) with their ad budgets. And web 2.0 is proving that advertising is a "price" many many people are willing to pay.

More on that later.

Upcoming Movies: My Short List

Movies I can't wait to see in 2008...(in no particular order)

21


Batman: The Dark Knight


Step Brother


Indiana Jones Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Conventional Wisdom Is Just Plain Dumb

In 1958 economist John Kenneth Galbraith coined the term “conventional wisdom” in his book “The Affluent Society.” He was describing expectations commonly ascribed to an omniscient “public sentiment.”

But what is conventional wisdom exactly? Who is this convention that decides what is or is not wise? And more importantly, why does it really matter to you or me?

A quick Google search turns up everything from Wikipedia's description to a quiz on the IQ of your conventional wisdom. Are you serious!? There's a quiz for that?

The biggest problem I have with conventional wisdom is that it too often supports the status quo. Take for example just a few of the major technological advances of the 20th century: airplanes, integrated circuits, space travel, and the internet. All of these breakthroughs in science began as a simple idea in the mind of a visionary.

The ironic part is that most of these visionaries were deemed crazy in their day and age. Edison, Wright Brothers, Einstein, Kennedy, and many others were challenged by the antagonist that is conventional wisdom.

In the early 1900s Horace Rackham, Henry Ford's lawyer, received a bit of this "wisdom" from the president of Michigan Savings Bank: "The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty a fad." Needless to say, Mr. Rackham ignored the advice and invested $5000 in Ford stock, later selling it for $12.5 million.

In fact, here are a plethora of missed predictions I found from what many would consider wise sources in their day and age.

Let the record show if you have a novel idea, visionary concept, or some belief that none of your peers share, I guarantee you will be faced with opposition. People will do their best to inject a sense of realism or conventional wisdom into your bright idea.

After all, the brick walls are there for a reason. They exist to separate the status quo from the truly passionate few. You have to decide which camp you want to be in: one that accepts public sentiment or someone that looks it in the eyes and discovers that there's a better way of doing things.

Dork, Actor, or Honest Abe?

World's biggest dork, a pretty good actor, or just a really honest guy.

You decide...