What's Next: Buybacks, Bailouts, and You...

*This post is intended to be informative for consumers, and not particularly political even though everything apparently has to be now. I tend to find that people agree a whole lot more than they think they do. So if this post triggers you I dare you to reach out to me to talk about how we probably agree more than you might assume.

One thing that I must say before I say anything else is that it is important to understand that cutting taxes or increasing spending both increase the national debt, and increasing tax revenue by cutting taxes has proven multiple times not to work as advertised - the cuts do not more than pay for themselves in the long term, they do not even simply pay for themselves. I have a bachelor's degree in economics and love a healthy discussion about different ideas (ie: keynesian vs supply side economics, which is a huge part of this discussion).

I personally did not like the so called "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017" that was enacted a few years ago for several reason, and was vocal about the specifics of that to my close family and friends. I'm afraid to hurt my income based on an opinion that I might have to be honest. The primary reason I did not like that legislation was that the stated purpose of the tax cut was that it would spur on the economy by primarily getting back into the hands of average people - this was never going to be true. It was stated by experts of all stripes before, during, and after the passage of the legislation that corporations would just buy back their own stock and hoard the extra cash taken out of the public supply from the tax cuts. The lower regulations and taxes over the last few years caused a short term sugar high that would make our next recession stronger than it had to be (insert parable about the house being built upon the sand). Of course we did not know that the Coronavirus would come as it did, we should however have been planning for this moment and not exploding the debt in a prolonged period of growth. I did not like that legislation, and I believe that it is especially hurtful moving into the economy that we are likely to have in the near future. The money that has been hoarded from those recent tax cuts could've gone to a large number of things that we could use in this moment. You know who does not hoard money?... People needing essential services. If there is going to be a bailout we need to make sure that we focus on the return on investment, and when we should expect to see the return. People needing help paying bills will be using that money immediately and recirculating it back into the economy, unlike the people you'll hear about in the video above.

Well we are past this last round of policy debates on what we do while we have a strong economy that has been building for a decade. Now it is time to have a conversation about what we need to know, plan for, and advocate for with a major shift in the economy coming. I do not want to be an alarmist, and I still know that we have to have a conversation about how to structure our economy moving forward. The numbers that I'm seeing are scary, and I'm just talking economics. The human and health component of all of this which to me is clearly the more important conversation, and the economy is of course a part of that conversation. We haven't even started delving into what has been happening, and will increasingly happen with people's pensions... Here are a few books to learn more about that from people who are not politically in alignment:

1. "Retirement Heist" by Ellen E. Schultz

2. "Who Stole My Pension?" by Robert Kiyosaki

I have plenty I'd love to share about all of this, and I'd LOVE to sit and listen to opinions of others, I do however have no intention of letting that play out in arguments on my Facebook. If you'd like a healthy conversation with me about economics I would love that while we are quarantined mostly in the house. I'm open to: Calls/FaceTime, Texts, Emails, anything really. It's time for our society to have the conversations about Keynesian Economics and what it is supposed to look like. John Keynes had a strong belief in governments midwiving struggling economies, and we've had a mixed economy for a Very long time. A conversation about always or never relying on the government is just not that helpful right now as our 2 major parties have acted with Keynesian ideals as they've bailed out industries, and regularly funding large ticket items like: schools, highways, space travel, the military, medicare, etc.

My job is a 100% commission based job, and I believe in free markets. I also believe in some forms of central planning so that the crashes are not as painful (Keynesian 101). In order for me to stay in business, along with millions upon millions of other Americans we need to plan our next moves carefully, and I reject the ideology that we should have companies privatize their profits and socialize their losses.

Agreeing with someone 100% is just not realistic, I implore you to ask questions of people you do not agree with so that we can be working on what this looks like moving forward. People are afraid, and this is a great time to plan while we are all awak to the fact that we are in the same boat. Right now is as good as any other with deals being made! OK, I've talked enough, I hope you get something out of the this, and stay safe.

Peace & Love,

Grady Carter, Keller Williams Realty

(405)474-2905

HomeBoyOK@gmail.com