Welcome to the end of the week! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy this weeks roundup in another edition of Happy Hour.
Midterm Shuffle
The midterm elections are finally over. No more political ads or candidate bashing. The People have spoken. And just in time too. Those can’t miss holiday attack ads are coming soon.
Big data site FiveThirtyEight got its political projections right..again. But, are you really surprised by the results?
This is the typical response when people get tired of the status quo. Past elections show it over and over. The political pendulum never swings to one side and stays very long.
The same story was told here in Illinois too. We got our first Republican governor in over a decade, in Bruce Rauner. His opponent, Governor Quinn, had at least one good quality. He was the first governor in over a decade to not land in jail. Though, the jury is still out.
Like it or not, the party in power gets blamed for the economy, the stock market, unemployment, wage growth, and every other problem that pops up. Based on the first three, everything should be cool, right?
Last I checked, the market is up big, the economy is growing, and unemployment is down. Guess the people expected more. Maybe it was the lack of progress in Washington then? Four years of gridlock will do that.
Politics is a very interesting sport. Deflecting and projecting is how it’s played. The last four years have been a giant pile of deflection out of Washington. Nothing has gotten done. Of course, the same four years, the market is up 60%. That says something. Political gridlock is useful!
But did this election actually free up that gridlock? We won’t know until we hit the first hurdle. There’s another debt ceiling deadline in the spring. Will the Republicans raise a big stink like in past debt ceiling debates or will it suddenly be a non issue? Stay tuned.
Last Call
- Forcing Americans to Save Money – Atlantic
- My Dream Investor – M. Housel
- Adding Tools to Your Mental Toolbox – Farnam Street
- Swedroe: The Surprising Lessons Of QE – ETF.com
- Diversification Benefits of REITs – Morningstar
- Risk-Return Relationship Has Been Upended – FT.com