Podcast 234

Market Plunge. If it wasn’t for Ebola, this week’s Market Plunge would be the top story and we’d all be talking about it. Was it really less than a month ago that President Obama said the market and economy had come roaring back? And this week the market gave back all the gains so far of 2014. Will it come back. Analysts aren’t so sure. As the rest of the economies in the world contract, all hope was placed in US economic growth which the fantasy world created by the media hyped. Bad retail sales numbers this week dashed those hopes. Meanwhile the world’s governments and central banks that depend on inflation to wipe away debts, are very concerned about disinflation turning into deflation. Are lower commodity prices a good sign, or a bad sign? In the final analysis, the US economy will probably not be enough to act as a counterweight to fading growth in the Euro Zone and China, even with lower commodity prices. The worry on Wall Street? Faltering demand among consumers. Surprise! While the President touts economic ‘recovery’ the number of Americans on SNAP benefits (in other words Food Stamps) skyrockets, the clearest indication yet that the newly employed are in low wage part time jobs, and those out of the work force may stay out as long as government programs pay them to. Not a good combination, and certainly not one that indicates dynamic growth. What’s going on? Steve Forbes has five suggestions that are pretty good. The upshot? We’re a long way from the kinds of radical reforms that will change the scope, cost and size of the Federal Government and get things back on track. It isn’t gridlock causing the problems, its the people. It’s our politics. How do we put away creaky old Keynesian concepts moderate Republicans, democrats and progressives have championed going back to the New Deal? How do we cut away regulation, spending and taxation and reduce government power, so that new decentralizing technologies can empower the individual to innovate, generate tomorrow’s successes, and power the US out of the malaise we find ourselves in? Yes, there are Republicans afraid of radical change just as there are democrats afraid to reduce the size and power of government. We have to stop expecting creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial instincts from politicians. News Flash! Your congressman is not Steve Jobs. Not by a long shot. Some ideas to consider when thinking about the other major story chronicling the failure of ‘big government’ these days; The economy. Sponsored by Depotstar. 

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Podcast 216

Climate Change. A few thousand ‘protesters’ crowd into the streets of lower Manhattan and it looks like the Puerto Rican Day Parade and Street Fair on Upper 3rd Avenue, when millions of people hit the streets. But alas, it is only Al Gore, Leo DiCaprio and Robert F Kennedy Jr to add more hot air to the already wheezing planet’s atmosphere. Listen to how they react when reporters ask them about their SUV’s and Cell Phones and ‘Carbon Usage’. For Thee, not me, they say. When do draconian laws being pushed by the environmental movement begin to hurt the people the movement says it is trying to help. Slow, or no economic growth threatens the security of the world, farmers can’t get grain to market because oil has to be shipped on rail roads owned by Warren Buffett, and the scion of the rich family that became powerful politically because of corruption, blames the Koch Brothers for all that ails our fair nation. A slash-and-burn-walk-and-talk podcast in reaction to listening to Al Gore and Robert F Kennedy Jr NOT answer questions asked by reporters about their behavior, and the hypocrisy of the so called ‘Global Warming’ movement. Yes, there is a question about the 17 year slow-down in warming, the dire warnings issued more than twenty years ago about the post apocalyptic environment we would be living in (we’re not), and no, scientists do not agree, the ‘debate’ is not over…isn’t that what science is supposed to be about? And then there is the garbage problem; Protesters left tons of their garbage in the streets of Gotham after the ‘protest’. Leo, Al and Bobby were apparently too busy climbing into their SUV’s, heading off to their yachts, or to the next champagne fueled charity event to bother cleaning up after themselves. Meanwhile, China is the largest producer of carbon ‘pollution’. Think they’ll protest there? Yes we have Climate Change. The trees are already changing colors in the upper midwest, and we know a long, cold winter awaits. Sponsored by Sedation and Implant Dentistry of Saint Paul. 

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Podcast 214

North Dakota. The final On-The-Road podcast takes us through Montana to North Dakota. When you travel, especially in a car, you get philosophical. Subscribers to the Bob Davis Podcasts suggested a trip to Williston, for a first hand look at what ‘Fracking’ has wrought. One does not have to go to Williston to see the effects of development and economic growth in North Dakota. Everything is new. Kicking off some musing about the different ways the American West Developed, how the West uses its resources for economic growth. The sheer geographic size and scope of Western States is truly impressive, not to mention innovation and opportunity from the coffee stands and whitewater outfitters in Moab, Utah to brand new service stations, franchises, apartment buildings, hotels and office buildings in North Dakota. While North Dakota leads the nation in economic growth and energy development, it is just one state. The whole trip through the so called ‘Mountain West’ definitely leaves a visual impression, but it also serves as a reminder of just how majestic the United States is, and how much potential there really is. From trains, to smaller cities all over the west, in states so large you wouldn’t even know there is growth and development, and innovation everywhere. One can’t help but wonder how much more potential for growth would exist if people enjoyed an easier path to following their dreams. The Minneapolis Tribune and New York Times don’t like North Dakota’s oil boom, but then again, the establishment ‘back east’ has never been comfortable with the diverse economic interests ‘Out West’ that have struggled with development, exploitation of natural resources, agriculture and ranching issues, for over one hundred years. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul. 

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