Marc-It-Wise: What Texans Need To Know Economically
By Marc L. Flaster
NEW YORK New York (Texas Insider Report) Edmund Burke wrote back in the 1800s what Tip ONeill paraphrased in the statement that all politics is local". However when the representatives of the community met at the British Parliament their
interests were to be focused to promote the general welfare.
That is not the course here.
Our Congress is an assortment of special interests and may or may not represent those who endorsed their cause. For sure they are beholden to the money interests that helped pave the way. Whatever we read or hear from the opinion makers as they try to give guidance on what lies ahead keep this in mind: Only part of the Congress was up for re-election.
The support they received was not the same constituency that put Trump into the 45
th seat at the White House. In addition those that were not subject to the humiliation of seeking re-election received their endorsement from a completely different wave of voters.
This is the sausage that Mr. Trump faces.
Julian Benda wrote in 1907 that the cult of success is based on the teaching that says that when a will is successful that fact alone gives it value whereas the will which fails is for that reason alone deserving of contempt.
Or to put it in laymans terms: Out with the old in with the new.
The legislative success to spend on infrastructure will be endorsed for sure; modifying or restraining regulation in banking energy and taxation with or without representation are probably measures to endorse. The real focus has changed from income redistribution restraint on those who create to those who only consume should drive the economy to higher GDP comparisons from the O-be-Wan strangulation of economic promise.
The worst of the housing crisis was the imposition of the Dodd/Frank Act (DFA). You cannot have growth without the grease of other peoples money. That is what banking is all about to be a financial intermediary. Bond trading is not why we have banks. Yet that is about all DFA left uncovered from intense regulatory scrutiny.
This Congress will be forced to modify those rules. It is not globalism that has hampered our economy from moving forward with alacrity but rather unchallenged regulation Had it not been for DFA monetary policy management would have had the desired effect to fuel the economy. Instead the economy was allowed to fallow like corn in a drought.
Yes this is not your run of the mill recording of who shall benefit and who shall falter. Remember the Pilgrims emigrated from persecution and then imposed the same restraint they found oppressive. And to feed their cohort they first organized a cooperative and distributed each to his need. This failed. Then the land was distributed and those who tilled well prospered and those who did not sought salvation from another level.
This election was not about throwing the bums out nor bringing jobs back to inefficient industries. It was in large part a reaction to a loss of dignity respect and a culture that rejected our heritage. The elements that bend to the words embossed on the Statue of Liberty now resonate: Give me your tired your poor your huddled masses yearning to be free.
It was this release of years of frustration from a leadership that did not recognize the worth of the human effort that turned the election to the right.
The course now will be buffeted by the sausage I mentioned above. But the direction has been recast.
As the man said... Go forth and prosper to your own abilities. It is time to remember that these qualities shall not perish.
And I say Amen!!
Feel free to share this with anyone else you believe might have an interest. It is written from my point of view about topics that I
find interesting and I dont expect my readers to agree with me even half the time.
Marc L. Flaster has advised financial institutions across Texas in balance sheet management for over 35 years. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any client or organization with which Marc L. Flaster might be affiliated.
