Scrooged: Xmas 2020

It is December 22, 2020 and while I have written Xmas posts many times, I have to admit I am pretty stumped this year.

I must have started this thing a dozen times. One problem is timing – it is not Christmas yet and New Year’s seems a ways off in the distance.

I wanted to display my usual lack of respect for institutions in a humorous way, but somehow humor doesn’t flow in me today. Clearly, you are better off watching Bill Murray and Chevy Chase if what you want is humor.

There is the saga of Trump on his horse, Frigger, saying Hi Ho Silver away as he rides into the sunset while Joe and his gang wreak havoc in their expensive Brooks Brothers suits and confident swaggers. The only sure thing about this transfer of power is that we will get dizzy from the swing moving too far in one direction and then going too far in the other one.

Of course, you are totally sick of reading and learning about Covid. Even the so-called good news about vaccines isn’t very reassuring as pundits question every aspect of it and tell us to wait patiently for it to have its full effects in the future. They somehow forget that many of us are old enough to be resting in pine boxes when that normality returns.

The Saint Louis Fed published a piece recently about income and wealth distribution and guess what they found? Yep, the distributions are getting a little less unequal but not enough to make a difference. While their piece has enough data to choke an actuary, there is nary a word about what we should do about it. They did say that if the poor earned more income and saved more, their wealth would improve. Wow. How much do they pay those economists to improve our lives with sage advice like that?

So, there you have it. I know you are busy getting Covid at your local stores, and you still have many gifts to buy so I won’t keep you from all that. I do hope you find a minute or two to send cash to me at my Seattle address. The alcohol taxes here in Seattle are criminal, and I could use a little assistance at this time of year.

I will end appropriately with a hearty CHEERS and a hope that we all survive and thrive in 2021. Have a nice holiday too.