Looking forward from the November election, I have these thoughts, by category.
Spiritual
It’s hard to imagine a better summary than Randy Alcorn’s article in his Eternal Perspectives Ministries current newsletter. He reminds us that we “vote” every day by our choices and our actions. And that as important as America is, there is an eternal perspective that is even more important.
National Economics
How can we not have increasing inflation? And fewer jobs created than would otherwise be normal on our path out of the recession, with higher taxes and more regulations (see my previous two posts)?
We are headed for stagflation, as in the malaise of the 70’s. Once expectations shift to expect inflation, the rise in prices and interest rates will be quick.
See
https://articles.marketwatch.com/2012-08-14/commentary/33183906_1_rise-in-inflation-expectations-grain-prices-unemployment-rate
Personal Economics
If the national path is to stagflation, then as individuals we should continue to put our houses in order, paying off high interest rate debt, saving, and investing in real assets and equities, which should rise in paper value with the inflation.
Although it is contrary to usual conservative thought, taking on long term, low interest rate debt on a home or rental property can make sense, so long as the loan-to-value ratio is not too high.
Low interest rates will soon be only a memory, and inflation lets debtors pay back their loans with less-expensive dollars.
National Events
I’m ready to let Obama and the statists have their day. The Republicans in the House can fight a rear-guard action against the stupidity of raising tax rates on job creators, but the Democrats appear to have a broken record (pun intended) to raise rates, no matter what. So, OK, go ahead.
The next few years should then be a valuable national lab test on what happens with higher tax rates, a huge annual deficit, free money, and over regulation. Maybe I and everyone with common sense who have read history are wrong. Maybe it will all work out just fine. No stagflation. Millions re-employed. Salvation by government and universal health care.
But recall that there have been fifty state-level lab tests going on for years, and the results are in. The canary in the coal mine may be when the Democratic utopias of California, Illinois and/or New York (Greece-west) petition the federal government for a bailout of their overextended and underfunded debts. Will the rest of us go along, like Germany, and tax ourselves to pay for these states’ irresponsible voting and spending?
I guess we’ll see…I hope that the riots and violence, if they follow Greece’s path, will be short lived and not extreme. But what will come after that?
What do you see in two to four years?
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