A recent Pew Research Center poll showed that only about 19% of Americans trust their government. This is a historically low level for the measure, which shockingly at one point in the 1950s actually reached the 70% range. There are undoubtedly a myriad of reasons for this, which are beyond the scope of this post. [...]
Are We in a Lower Return Environment?
April 7, 2016 By
In recent meetings with clients, we have often presented a graphic that shows the average annual returns of the U.S. stock and bond markets from 1986 to today. Why that particular 30-year time period? Because it almost exactly corresponds to my career in the investment business. It also, coincidentally, parallels a historic bull market in [...]
Behind the Global Growth Slowdown
October 15, 2014 By
As we have been discussing with clients and writing in our newsletters, the global growth rates that the markets have been “baking in” are somewhat optimistic. Earlier this year, stock market valuations in the US were projecting we would reach a 3% GDP growth rate, not the 2.0-2.25% we have been experiencing for the last 5 years. And the [...]
Small-Business Lending Still Slowing Down Economy
September 12, 2014 By
I was initially drawn to this recent Wall Street Journal story because it’s situated in a small town just minutes outside of Atlanta, and probably only about 40-50 miles (as a crow flies) from our office. But the situation in Carrollton is just a microcosm of the issues facing the US economy as a whole; [...]
