A Quiet Transformation in the American Economy: The Elderly

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There has never been a better time in America to be old. Yet it also exposes our disjointed national priorities. We keep pouring resources into making the elderly comfortable and happy when the economy’s pressure points lie elsewhere. 

According to Greg Ip for The Wall Street Journal, here's what else is happening on the quiet transformation in the American economy:

The elderly are mostly out of the job market and thus need not worry about being replaced by artificial intelligence. The majority own their homes, often debt-free. Everyone worries about health costs, but the elderly have publicly funded Medicare. None of this is true for young generations.

The elderly are a nation of optimists.  

If you are over 65, congratulations.  You own the economy. 

As a Business Leader, I Stand Up Against Abuses, Do You?

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Robert E. Rubin, a senior counselor at Centerview Partners, served as U.S. Treasury secretary, 1995-1999, writes an Opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, "Why Have Business Leaders Gone Silent?"

He writes:

Perhaps most important, all business leaders—and leaders in all sectors—should ask themselves three questions. First, do Mr. Trump’s actions regarding the economy, the law, and use of the federal government cross a red line? Second, if not, what would? Third, what will I do differently if and when such a line is crossed?

He goes on to say, "The challenges of opposing authoritarianism can be great. But the ever greater consequences, if authoritarianism is left to continue, can be many times more severe."

Read Mr. Rubin's commentary.  I stand up against abuses, do you?

Oh, and you might also read the Opinion by The New York Times, "For Trump, Justice Means Vengeance."  As this piece reminds us, "that we are a country ruled by laws,  not by one man."

Show Your Support for Evan Gershkovich

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The Wall Street Journal is offering resources for people who want to show their support across social media for Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained in Russia on March 29 during a reporting trip. He remains in a Moscow prison on espionage charges. The Journal and the U.S. government vehemently deny the allegations and have called for his immediate release.

Download this collection of media assets to surface and share across their personal social-media accounts—from Twitter and Facebook to LinkedIn, Instagram and beyond. They can be added as user profile photos, banners or posts.  Act now.

Let us not forget about Paul Whelan, the ex-US Marine jailed in Russia as well.

Today in Global Small Business: The Origin of a Great Global Gospel Classic

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• The origin of a [great global] gospel classic by Robert Marovich and published in the 9/10/22 print edition of the Wall Street Journal.  Mr. Marovich writes that ninety years ago, the song ‘Take My Hand, Precious Lord’ emerged from personal tragedy to become a beloved anthem.
• TikTok is upending the music industry.
• Bad Bunny and the political history of reggaeton.  The genre is the product of migration, rebirth, and the struggle to be heard.
• Quote of the week: "Every nation, every human being that came across earth had a song and sang in some way to their God." – Thomas A. Dorsey
• Temilade Openiyi, professionally known as TEMS, isn’t about fitting in — she’s in her own lane moving at her own pace and inspiring girls in Africa and around the world. The Nigerian artist’s rise to fame is proof anything's possible if you keep your eyes on the prize.
• Going international is no small thing.  SB19 Is eyeing the global-pop market and bringing the Philippines along.

The Promise, Challenge and Opportunity of Free Trade

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What's there to be pessimistic about on free trade?

The default position portrays trade deals as a threat to American jobs and wages, exposing our economic weaknesses to the world, rather than as opportunities to grow our economy and maximize our strengths.

Find out what Thomas F. 'Mack' McLarty has to say with his opinion piece published at The Wall Street Journal.

Read:  Why Democrats Should Back the President on Free Trade
(Love the 1993 photo in this piece with Larry King, Al Gore and Ross Perot.)

Selling Goods Overseas Is Easier But Still Challenging For Small Businesses

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While selling goods overseas is easier due to the Internet and the vast amount of information available on the subject (including this blog), it's still hard for small businesses to get paid on exports.  This is the #1 challenge for small businesses.  (Here is an article worth reading and re-reading:  An Insider's Guide to Making Payments and Getting Paid on Overseas Transactions).

Read the entire article:  Small Business:  The Cost of Expanding Overseas (WSJ.com)

Note:  Laurel is mentioned in the WSJ article along with new her new book!

America: Breathing Life Into Dreams

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If there is one thing you read today, read this:

The North American Global Powerhouse

by George P. Schultz, a former secretary of labor, Treasury and state, and director, Office of Management and Budget, is a distinguished fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution

Excerpt in opinion piece where Schultz is quoting Ronald Reagan:

"While other countries cling to the stale past, here in America we breathe life into dreams. We create the future, and the world follows us into tomorrow. Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we're a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier.

"This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost."

What Exactly Is Globalization?

We had The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy where an economist, Pietra Rivoli, examined the markets, power and the politics of world trade - sorting through and encouraging us to understand how free trade and protection have most certainly changed our world.

In the commentary recently published in The Wall Street Journal, The Economics of a $6.75 Shirt, Rubana Huq (managing director of the Mohammadi Group, a garment manufacturer and exporter in Dhaka, Bangladesh.), provides a detailed analysis of the economics of a $6.75 shirt made in Bangladesh and as it relates to Bangladesh's minimum wage.

The recent tragedies at several Bangladeshi garment factories have claimed hundreds of lives—and focused international attention on this important but often overlooked industry. Yet greater scrutiny has not led to greater understanding, raising the prospect that any proposed solutions will have serious unintended consequences for this industry and the four million people it employs. 

Read the entire commentary here (be sure to read the comments - very telling).

Photo courtesy:  ©2013 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved.  (Go global t-shirt - made in USA).

America's New Exports

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As Austan Goolsbee, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, former chairman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers from 2010 to 2011, writes in the Wall Street Journal:

The U.S. runs a huge trade surplus in tourism, tuition paid by foreign students, even NBA jersey sold abroad.

Further, he talks about the more promising way out of our economic doldrums:  growing exports -- through things like tourism, travel and services.

Read the entire commentary and more than 35 comments (when I last checked) at:
Jeremy Lin and America's 'New Exports'

Where Does Going Global Start?

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According to this article,  going global starts at home.

Domestic reforms would help Chinese companies invest successfully abroad.

Posted by The Global Small Business Blog

Scoping Out Hot Business Opportunities in Emerging Markets

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You can do good to do well.  In this case, corporate employees help and scope out opportunities in developing countries.

Read:  Doing Good to Do Well (The Wall Street Journal)

Overtake America? Seriously?

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Is the United States losing status as a global superpower?

A new Pew Global Attitudes survey finds that while the U.S. is better regarded around the world now than it was in the Bush years, in 15 of 22 nations surveyed most say that China either will replace or already has replaced America as the world's "leading superpower." This view is especially widespread in Western Europe, where at least six in 10 respondents in Britain, France, Germany and Spain see China eventually overtaking the U.S.

Read the entire commentary here:

Andrew Kohut (president of the Pew Research Center) and published by The Wall Street Journal: The World Says China Will Overtake America

Related resource:

Pew Global Attitudes Project
China Seen Overtaking U.S. As Global Superpower

What do you think?

Victoria's Secrets: Taking It Slowly in the International Marketplace

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Limited Brands, owner of lingerie Victoria's Secret and personal-care retailer Bath & Body Works, is traveling slowly through the international marketplace.  According to The Wall Street Journal article, "Victoria's Secret Gets Out Overseas," VS doesn't have any locations overseas.  Why?

Find out more here.

Does a cautious approach to going global work for your business too?

Happy 4th of July America: We Are Still The Country of the Future

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Happy Independence Day United States of America!

According to Walter Russell Mead, no country is better positioned to take advantage of the opportunities or manage the dangers than the United States.

... the United States of America is better placed to surf this transformation than any other country. Change is our home field. It is who we are and what we do. Brazil may be the country of the future, but America is its hometown.

Read:  The Future Still Belongs To America

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

Can We Outproduce, Outcompete and Outsell Anybody, Anywhere in the World?

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I'd like to think we can and according to President Ronald Reagan in his own State of the Union speech on February 4, 1986, he affirmed we could.

But here's the thing.  Judy Shelton (video clip of her -- interesting ... she thinks the free market works) writes a provocative commentary for The Wall Street Journal:  "The Wrong Way to Double Exports."  She doesn't think we are competing.  She thinks we are cheating.

Find out why here.

Ms. Shelton is author of “Money Meltdown” (Free Press, 1994), is a senior fellow at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation and co-director of the Sound Money Project.

Web Start-Ups Go Global

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According to a recent article in the WSJ, "Web Start-Ups Search History," a newer generation of start-ups such as Yelp Inc. and Groupon Inc. are going global. They are studying their predecessors and adapting successful ideas -- such as using acquisitions or partnerships to enter markets where a strong competitor exists -- with the intent of improving their chance of success in the global marketplace.

Read the entire article here.

World Currency: The U.S. Dollar

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David Wessel, economics editor for The Wall Street Journal, writes: "Weaker Dollar Is No Elixir for Economy."

Quick snippet:

The logic, drawn from textbooks, is that a decline in the dollar will make U.S. exports cheaper for foreign customers, so they will buy more, and will make Asian exports more expensive, so the world will buy less. It's no magic elixir.

Can China Move Into the Exclusive Club of High Per Capita Income Countries?

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The 1992 Nobel economics laureate Gary Becker -- professor of economics at the University of Chicago and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution -- writes a magnificent opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, "China's Next Leap Forward."

Quick insightful snippet here:

Global markets allow poor countries to grow rapidly for a while, but it is far more difficult to grow beyond middle-income levels. Much has been made of the fact that a month ago China's aggregate GDP surpassed that of Japan. But all that means is China's per capita income is about 10% of Japan's, since China's population is about 10 times that of Japan. Despite its great economic advances, China still has a long way to go to become a rich country.

Don't overlook it. Blog is equally fascinating.

Posted by: The Global Small Business Blog

How to Push Your Business to Get Growth From Developing Markets

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In a recent Wall Street Journal Article, "Philips's CEO Urges Local Strategies for Emerging Markets," reporter Paul Glader interviews Philips Electronics NV Chief Executive Gerard Kleisteriee.

Kleisteriee shines a magnificent light on his firm's global strategy. The company aims to boost emerging-market sales from 30% to 50% by 2015 by focusing on China.

An interesting snapshot:

WSJ: What do companies have to do differently now in emerging markets?
Mr. Kleisterlee: It does not suffice to serve only the metropolitan areas. In India and in China you need to have good rural distribution.
Increasingly we, and also our competitors, develop products in these emerging markets for the emerging markets. So it is not a European or a U.S. concept that gets sold in China or India but things that we have designed, engineered and manufactured locally for the local market.

Read the entire interview here.

By the way, I did not know Philips has an online store.

If You Were to Bet on Growth, Where Will It Come From?

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According to Abbott Laboratories Chief Executive Miles D. White:

... he has assembled a business in fast-growing countries that the company will count on for a big part of its growth.
"Where do you think the growth in the world is going to come from?" Mr. White asked during an interview at his suburban Chicago office, a few miles from Lake Michigan. "Would you bet on the U.S.? Would you bet on Western Europe? It's going to come from emerging markets."

The article goes on further to say:

Now, the fast-growing emerging-market economies are much more attractive. Expanding middle classes in such countries as Brazil, South Korea and Turkey are not only spending more on health care, but their rising affluence has contributed to increasing rates of diabetes, heart disease and other conditions that once had been limited to developed markets. Some governments, notably China's, are beginning to provide insurance to pay for health care.

Read the entire article here.