Christmas 2017

I thought I might give us all a break this week. No macro today! 

Mostly, I want to say thank you for tolerating me for another year. I started this blog in 2010 right after I retired from Indiana University. I think I have now posted 441 times. What fun!

I started this blog for two reasons. First, I wanted to keep up with what was going on with global macro. Second, I wanted a way to keep up with friends. It worked. I think about macro a lot and the issues show no signs of easing. And it turns out that since I see some of you in the flesh now and then, I often get the chance to talk shop with you at parties and other venues.  

But even better than all that is that I continue to hear from so many of you. The blog distribution list started very small and was built one person at a time over these years. Some of you are friends from long ago in public school in Miami. Others went to Georgia Tech, Arizona, or UNC with me. The remainder includes family, friends, and neighbors. And I love that I continue to harass my former colleagues and students from Foster, Kelley, SKKU, and those I had the pleasure of teaching in places such as Helsinki, Hanover, Budapest, Hanoi, Budapest, Big Arts, and more.

You cannot imagine how much pleasure I get when I hear from you. Some of you post a comment on the blog site but most of you send me emails. Sometimes you like a post. Sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you don’t even read the post but you reply just to say hello or to tell me how you are doing. What an incredible blessing!

Finally, let me say that while I love the macro and the chance to write and argue about contemporaneous issues, I personally find too much angst among my friends. I see people who are very bothered if not highly stressed about the future of our country and the world. All I can say is that now is not the first time nor will it be the last time we think the world is going to Hell. I remember all too well walking around Miami in the early 1960s wondering when the missiles from Cuba were going to rain on me and my friends and family. You should have seen all the people trying to build nuclear bomb shelters in the coral rock of Miami!

I say this because too much worry diverts us from the truly important and possible things we can do with our lives. Having a political opinion is fine and important. But taking care of our loved ones and helping our friends and neighbors navigate life hold more chances for personal growth and true satisfaction.  

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year and that we find productive and fun ways to work together and muddle through the best we can. Stay in touch!