Dear Workers of America

Actually, it IS your fault.

Barack Obama was raked over the coals this week (at least on Fox news) for suggesting that the US is not as competitive as it used to be, and that Americans are becoming complacent about their #1 position in the world.

What is interesting about Obama’s comment is that so many people agree that the US is not as competitive as it used to be, yet refuse to believe that they personally have anything to do with the situation.

I know many Chinese parents whose children are enrolled in soccer camp, take swimming lessons and piano lessons, have math tutoring, and yet still have time to meet their friends for several “playdates” per week – after finishing their homework, of course.  They have this much free time because they are only allowed to watch 2-3 hours of television per week, with another 1-2 hours per week to surf the Internet or play video games.  In contrast, I also know many American families whose children do almost nothing except watch television and play computer games.

The above is merely anecdotal evidence, of course, and doesn’t prove a thing.  But can we really call the average American family “motivated and driven to succeed?”

To find out if you are part of the problem or exempt from scorn, ask yourself the following questions:

1)      Do you watch 3 hours or more of television per day?  How about your children?

2)      How many books have you read in the last month?

3)      Do you currently have 3-6 months of emergency savings in cash, in case of injury, unemployment, or other unforeseen disasters?  If not, why not?

4)      Do you have trouble saving money?  If so, what have you recently done to drastically reduce your spending or increase your income (or both).  Or, do you just complain that bills are hard to pay but do nothing about it?

5)      During the last few years, have you purchased items like recreation vehicles, sports equipment, home decorations, electronics etc. on credit that you did not pay back at the end of the month?  Why?

6)      Have you been with your company for five years or longer?  If so, have you recently upgraded your skills/taken training courses etc on your own time?  Have you expanded your skill set to improve your employability outside your currently industry?

7)      Do you hate your job?    If so, what have you done to change careers or companies?  Have you updated your resume and practiced your interview skills?  How many jobs have you applied for?

In street interviews, website comments, and in social media, it is apparent that many Americans believe things will never get better: that they will always be unemployed, never get out of debt etc.   The more healthy reaction, of course, would be to say, “Wow, I was really stupid to rack up all that debt on my credit cards and house.  Now I’m going to have to study and train and work three times as hard.”

Of course, self-analysis is a difficult process and most people avoid it.  So, just continue to believe you are unemployed because of the President of the United States.


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People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents."

Andrew Carnegie

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see also:

Market of Sad Pandas

Today’s front-page headlines:

Think the Economy's Bad? 'You Haven't Seen Anything': CNBC, US

Shares fall of Greek deficit fear: BBC News – Business, UK

Markets take a turn for the worse: Financial Post, Canada

Wall Street drops as Greece overshadows ISM data: Delhi Business Standard, India

Is it just me, or is this constant vacillation between panic and complacency getting a bit tedious? I mean, seriously, it's been going on for 3 years now.

Everyone who reads this blog knows that the Chinese market is overbuilt and due to crash. Everyone knows that Greece is in trouble, and that European countries supporting Eastern European countries will suffer contagion. Everyone knows that the US economy is still in the tank, and although holding its own (and I would argue, poised for a comeback) will nonetheless remain there for some time. None of this is news. And yet, people are“reacting” to this news by selling their stocks - again.

Not that I am complaining, exactly. I love it when people sell their stocks at low prices, because I like to buy them. Canadian resource companies are my current favorite, since the chart for virtually every one of them has the shape of an inverted ‘V.”

No, this does not mean that I am suddenly one of those chart-wielding soothsayers who use terms like “reverse head and shoulders formation” or other such nonsense. It just means that no entire sector of a profitable industry deserves to be priced so low. Of course, this was one of my predictions in a previous article (The Fortune Teller), and I am now taking full advantage.

As one wonderfully sarcastic writer commented on a financial site today: “I would recommend you panic.”

Panic and fear are an intelligent investor’s best friends, as long as you watch but do not partake.  Don’t be a sad panda.

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"One must not let oneself be overwhelmed by sadness."

Jackie Kennedy

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From www.urbandictionary.com

Sad Panda, noun:

An unhappy, disappointed person. The phrase can be traced back to an episode of the cartoon South Park, in which the "Sexual Harassment Panda" teaches the children what is and isn't sexual harassment.
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Japan - Trip Report

Ganbarou Japan

A friend of mine in Tokyo described his experience after the great Touhoku earthquake earlier this year. All trains were out of service, so he decided to walk the roughly 60km back home from Yokohama to Tokyo. He walked for about15km, managed to find a taxi to take him part way, then a train, then another taxi, then walked again. Clogged phone services were useless and he could not call his wife. By the time he arrived at his home a day later at 2:30am, his wife had assumed he was dead.

It’s hard to overestimate the trauma experienced by the average Japanese citizen after the tsunami. In some areas of Tokyo, hundreds of kilometres away from the kill zone, driveways are bent, buildings cracked, and stone lanterns at ancient temples toppled.  Fears of radiation keep many from swimming in the ocean.  Due to the Japanese feeling of belongingness, even people completely outside the quake zone were mentally affected.

In North America, news interest in the tsunami ended months ago.  In Japan, stories of the quake and its cleanup are still on TV every day, with live updates of the progress (or lack thereof).  "Nippon matsuri," a pine tree that is the only living thing to have survived in the tsunami zone, has become a national symbol of strength, though it now is in danger of dying due to an influx of seawater.  “Ganbarou Japan,” an expression roughly translated as “You can do it Japan” and “Go for it, Japan” is plastered on everything from taxis and t-shirts to the quote screen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Virtually everyone says that the biggest change after the earthquake was the shift away from “Americanism;” that is, a shift away from pursuing wealth and career, toward a greater emphasis on spirituality, friends and family. A career advisor, for instance, told me that several of her top female clients had quit their jobs to get married.  Japanese economists worry that this shift away from “Americanism” will result in a decline in Japanese productivity, and a stagnant economy.

Mentality aside, the Japanese economy has several things going for it. A slowdown in China will mean better commodity prices for manufacturing. Personal savings rates are high and debt levels low. And, unlike most of the world, real estate prices are reasonable.

In the short-term, the shift toward family and maternity may slow down the Japanese economy. However, Japanese women appear just as stylish as ever, and Japanese men just as interested in drinking parties and electronics. The economic slowdown has not been enough to create shuttered businesses or foreclosed properties.

In the long-term, I suspect that the large-scale rebuilding of Northern Honshu will actually be a stimulus to the Japanese economy for years to come: and the work has barely begun.

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