Category: Observations

Posted on

Thursday Thoughts

The Goal of Enough

“Enough looks inward at need, rather than outward at want, like consumerism does. Enough pumps the brakes when we are no longer hungry, or cold, or alone.

“Consumerism floors the accelerator, because there is always someone, somewhere to chase, fueled by consumerist envy.

“My father — a top-tier über-consumer — used to read stories about billionaires and critique out loud what he called “abstract levels of wealth”. “How many pairs of pants can they wear at once?! How many cars can they drive?!” In the next breath, he would chuckle about the six bagfuls of suits he just gave away, because his enormous closets were overstuffed, and “it got a bit crazy”.  (quote from a column by Richard Rohr)

The response to consumerism by Sister José Hobday (1929–2009), a modern Franciscan:

“Simple living is not about elegant frugality. It is not really about deprivation of whatever is useful and helpful for our life. It is not about harsh rules and stringent regulations. To live simply, one has to consider all of these and they may be included to some degree, but simple living is about freedom. It’s about a freedom to choose space rather than clutter, to choose open and generous living rather than a secure and sheltered way.

“Freedom is about choices: Freedom to choose less rather than more. It’s about choosing time for people and ideas and self-growth rather than for maintenance and guarding and possessing and cleaning. Simple living is about moving through life rather lightly, delighting in the plain and the subtle. It is about poetry and dance, song and art, music and grace. It is about optimism and humor, gratitude and appreciation. It is about embracing life with wide-open arms. It’s about living and giving with no strings attached. . . .

“Simple living is as close as the land on which we stand. It is as far-reaching as the universe that makes us gasp. Simple living is a relaxed grasp on money, things, and even friends. Simplicity cherishes ideas and relationships. They are treasured more because simplicity doesn’t cling nor try to possess things or people or relationships. Simplicity frees us within, but it frees others, too. . . . Simple living is a statement of presence. The real me. This simplicity makes us welcome among the wealthy and the poor alike. . . .”

Posted on

Two Experiences of Being Black in America

These two poems by African Americans were written over 100 years ago.  Their messages of hope endure.   Even today, their words are timely and timeless.

Emancipation

Paul Laurence Dunbar

September  1890

Fling out your banners, your honors be bringing,
Raise to the ether your paeans of praise.
Strike every chord and let music be ringing!
Celebrate freely this day of all days.

Few are the years since that notable blessing,
Raised you from slaves to the powers of men.
Each year has seen you my brothers progressing,
Never to sink to that level again.

Perched on your shoulders sits Liberty smiling,
Perched where the eyes of the nations can see.
Keep from her pinions all contact defiling;
Show by your deeds what you’re destined to be.

Press boldly forward nor waver, nor falter.
Blood has been freely poured out in your cause,
Lives sacrificed upon Liberty’s alter.
Press to the front, it were craven to pause.

Look to the heights that are worth your attaining
Keep your feet firm in the path to the goal.
Toward noble deeds every effort be straining.
Worthy ambition is food for the soul!

Up! Men and brothers, be noble, be earnest!
Ripe is the time and success is assured;
Know that your fate was the hardest and sternest
When through those lash-ringing days you endured.

Never again shall the manacles gall you
Never again shall the whip stroke defame!
Nobles and Freemen, your destinies call you
Onward to honor, to glory and fame.

******************************

We Are Marching

Carrie Law Morgan Figgs

1922

  1. We are marching, truly marching
    Can’t you hear the sound of feet?
    We are fearing no impediment
    We have never known defeat.
  2. Like Job of old we have had patience,
    Like Joshua, dangerous roads we’ve trod
    Like Solomon we have built out temples.
    Like Abraham we’ve had faith in God.
  3. Up the streets of wealth and commerce,
    We are marching one by one
    We are marching, making history,
    For ourselves and those to come.
  4. We have planted schools and churches,
    We have answered duty’s call.
    We have marched from slavery’s cabin
    To the legislative hall.
  5. Brethren can’t you catch the spirit?
    You who are out just get in line
    Because we are marching, yes we are marching
    To the music of the time.
  6. We are marching, steady marching
    Bridging chasms, crossing streams
    Marching up the hill of progress
    Realizing our fondest dreams.
  7. We are marching, truly marching
    Can’t you hear the sound of feet?
    We are fearing no impediment
    We shall never know defeat.

 

Posted on

Thursday’s Thoughts– Within and Outside Credit Unions

Scott Budde, President of Maine Harvest FCU on paying board members, term limits and incubating new charters.

  1.  I think CU board members should be paid at least something and have term limits. I used to view the long tenures and unpaid work as strengths – and sometimes they are – but there are too many downsides that lead to some of the decisions you’ve questioned. Plus much of it is unglamorous work.
  2.  On small CU’s and new charters, I used to think the solution to new growth in CU’s lay in a better chartering process. But I think there are limits to how much easier chartering can be given the regulatory framework everyone has to live in.

Now I think the solution is to develop some sort of full legal structure for an existing CU to “incubate” a new CU, thereby giving scale, expertise, and resources to allow it to focus on its own FOM.

It would have to come with some sort of indemnification and segregation of capital but that could be figured out. Then a new CU could eventually break off into a separate charter or be folded into the parent CU or keep the same arrangement.

**************************

Blogger Scott Galloway on Tik Tok and its dominance of social media.

Elon Musk’s manic toggling between shit-posting and falsehoods have distracted us from what is the ascendant tech firm of 2022. TikTok now commands more attention per user than Facebook and Instagram combined. Downloaded more often than any other app for each of the past five quarters, it was the world’s most visited site in 2021. TikTok has 1.6 billion monthly active users — more than Twitter, Snapchat, and LinkedIn combined. 

*******************************

A reader’s response to the Guardian Score process to monitor examination and other regulatory contacts.

At least four state regulators already survey their credit unions after every exam.   The content is both structured and open ended.  The four states are Louisiana, Arizona, Washington and Connecticut.

**************************

Writer and documentarian Jared Brock on Capitalism.

Rules-free-market unfettered capitalism is a terrible idea.

Capitalism is the private ownership of everything for private profit.

Most people love a good little bit of capitalism; even those brave We Are The 99% Wall Street occupiers owned their tents and bandanas.

I love owning (or rather, stewarding) my own socks and shoes.

Admit it: Most of you love owning your phones.

But I’ve been to North Korea and have seen first-hand what happens when people own nothing, including their own clothes. It’s terrifying.

Capitalism’s biggest flaw is that people love money, and capital quickly becomes sovereign over democracy. It’s like capitalism is loaded with an IED, a handmade dirty bomb that’s ready and willing to blow itself up.

As we have seen time and again, if private ownership capitalism isn’t strictly governed by real democracy, it quickly falls into corporatism, oligarchy, feudalism, or worse.

*************************

The CO-OP Park in Albuquerque New Mexico is now open year round.  Last Friday,  raised garden boxes were put in at the park. The kids from Little Forest Play School  helped plant and had a blast. Is this about the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?  (from Denise Wymore)

Posted on

Field Notes  for Thursday

The Employment Challenge

From CEO Bill Burke’s May 2022 report to his team at Day Air Credit Union, Dayton, Ohio.  The opening comment:

Best Place to Work

“It’s a crazy employment market out there right now.  A fair number of companies (mostly in the service industry) have increased their minimum wage.  This is being done to recognize that inflation has taken hold (no one uses the word “transitory” anymore) and we’re reminded of that inflation every time we fill our fuel tanks or go grocery shopping.

“As a Best Place to Work, we try to have a firm finger on the pulse of the economic environment.  Last fall we adjusted the grade level of 24 positions throughout the organization upward, 20 by one grade and four by two grades.  We’re carefully reviewing all grades again – don’t be surprised to see a big announcement  of another revision of some salary grades as we respond quickly to the  inflationary environment we find ourselves in.

“What some people are not seeing in the news is how many companies are laying off staff.  A fair number of direct competitors in our market, mostly in the mortgage arena, are laying off people because mortgage volume is decreasing.  A hallmark of a Best Place to Work is not worrying about layoffs.

“Unlike some area banks and credit unions, Day Air Credit Union has never laid off an associate.  How many companies have adjusted salaries upward each and every year?  Another indication of being a Best Place to Work.

“While we have every intent of continuing these practices – never any layoffs and always an annual salary increase – we can never say never.  There are no guarantees for the future; but we can celebrate the great track record of the past and be very confident that it will continue.

“What has to happen to ensure that Day Air remains a Best Place to Work?  The Credit Union will  continue its culture:  a good workplace environment, promotion from within, recognizing a job well done, growing the gain-share plan, providing opportunities for advancement, offering a robust array of benefits, having fair policies and processes–doing what we’ve always done.

“Each associate will continue living the mission by: being purpose-driven, engaging members, providing solutions to their financial needs, increasing our share of the member household wallet, and above all act in accordance with our core values: integrity, compassion, engagement and empowerment.

Thank you for making Day Air a Best Place to Work.”

*********************************

Members Left Out of Merger

A reader responds to the Cap Com merger with State Employees (June 1 blog) and NCUA’s role:

“A comment from a management person at one of our credit unions this morning to one of our field reps:  “Our member’s don’t know it yet, but we will be merging with XYZ credit union in the fall.”

“A sad testimony to how seriously the member vote, and the member’s will, is taken. NCUA knows about the pending merger, but no one has yet cued in the members.”

**************************************

Three Credit Unions In a World Alliance

Two New Members Join the Global Alliance for Banking Values


The GABV has welcomed two new members to the network: vdk bank, based in Ghent, Belgium, and Australian Mutual Bank, which operates in the state of New South Wales, Australia.

The GABV’s ever-growing network has now reached a total of 67 members from 44 countries that share a common goal to transform finance for good. Meet them

The three US credit union members are Clearwater CU (Montana), Verity CU  (Washington), Vermont State Employees (proposing to merge) plus the National Cooperative Bank (Virginia).

The Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV) is a network of independent banks and banking cooperatives with a shared mission to use finance to deliver sustainable economic, social, and environmental development.

Founded in 2009, the GABV comprises 67 financial institutions operating in 44 countries across Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin America, North America and Europe. It serves more than 60 million customers collectively, holds over USD 200 billion of combined assets under management, and employs 80,000 co-workers.

*******************************

Inflation and Recycling

From Rensselaer, IN where I will attend my 60th high school reunion on June 11. (rensselaeradventures.blogspot.com )

“I took in some aluminum cans last week and was surprised that the price the scrap yard was paying was 70¢ a pound. I have never seen it that high. It takes 30 to 35 cans to equal a pound, so the scrap value of an empty can is about 2¢.

“That takes me back to my boyhood when an empty pop or beer bottle could be returned for 2¢. Back then most pop and beer came in bottles that were returned and reused. We did not find many because back then a postage stamp for a letter was 3¢ and a candy bar was 5¢; most people kept their empties.”

It reminds me of the summers my brother and sisters would go to the corn fields to pick up corn ears the automated pickers had missed.  We earned $1 per gunny sack full of corn.

 

Posted on

Memory and Hope:  Memorial Day 2022

From the golden fields of grain in Ukraine to the classrooms of Uvalde, Texas it is hard not to feel deep sadness at the self-inflicted tragedies of life.

Wilfred Owen’s poem Futility  captured this feeling during WW I in which the poet lost his life on November 4, 1918: :

Move him into the sun—

Gently its touch awoke him once,

At home, whispering of fields unsown.

Always it woke him, even in France,

Until this morning and this snow.

If anything might rouse him now

The kind old sun will know.

 

Think how it wakes the seeds—

Woke once the clays of a cold star.

Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides

Full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir?

Was it for this the clay grew tall?

—O what made fatuous sunbeams toil

To break earth’s sleep at all?

Where is Hope?

The irony of memory is that lives transcend tragedy when we remember the people whose loss leaves a deep crevice in our soul.  Especially those who gave us life and purpose when we faced our own uncertainties.

The most important event during the day when deployed in the Navy is mail call.   That is a reminder of the reunion everyone longed for.

(Returning from Operation Golden Dragon, Yokosuka, Japan 1970.  Mary Ann and Lara greet our brief stop to replenish before going back to sea. USS Windham County LST 1170 in background.)

Today an individual’s presence may not be physical, but  the  meaning they gave to our lives endures.   That is how hope overcomes tragedy.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on

Memorial Day 2022-Time to Reflect

We all take risks in our lives. Shopping, learning, and worshiping are not places where we should fear for our safety.

This weekend, can we reflect about the changes we support to create the society we wish for ourselves and our children?

Posted on

Red Hot Inflation & A Perspective on Previous Fed Approaches

The Federal Reserve’s dual mandate of managing monetary policy to sustain full employment and price stability is now focused on just one objective: reducing the 8% current inflation to the 2-3% range.

It intends to do this by reducing demand at all levels. The primary means  is by raising short term rates to discourage borrowing and reduce existing demand.

What level of rates will be necessary is unknown, as well as how long the process will take.  Also uncertain is whether the result will be a gradual slowing of the economy or  end in  recession.

CNBC reporter Kelly Evan’s May 19th column provides an historical perspective of previous Fed efforts to stop inflation. These prior results are mixed.

In her full column below she ends by stating what  she believes will be Chairman Powell’s approach.  Her analysis is a useful summary as pundits will offer critiques at each  stage of what will probably be a year long effort.

Kudos to former Fed chair Ben Bernanke for writing a perfectly timed book on the Fed’s battles with inflation in the 1960s and ’70s. If the book has a rather dry title (21st Century Monetary Policy), that’s because Bernanke sees it as picking up the narrative where his heroes, Friedman and Schwarz, left off in their 1963 classic that inspired his career and explained the Fed’s missteps during the Great Depression, A Monetary History of the United States. 

Bernanke, in other words, aims to provide a definitive account of how the Fed “got it wrong” in the Great Inflation that saw consumer prices rising more than 7% on average annually between 1965 and 1981, peaking at nearly 13% by the end of the period before Fed Chair Volcker finally wrested inflation back under control. His retelling contains so many similarities to today that it certainly ought to give anyone pause who thinks the current inflation will simply go away on its own. 

There were basically only two Fed chairs in the entire period spanning the Great Inflation: William McChesney Martin, from 1951 to 1970, and Arthur Burns, from 1970 to 1978. Martin comes off better in Bernanke’s retelling; he at least conceptually ran the Fed as a countercyclical institution, coining the phrase that the Fed should have “the punch bowl removed just when the party [is] really warming up.” He also emphasized the importance of keeping inflation at bay, noting “price stability is essential to sustainable growth.” 

And for much of Martin’s tenure, inflation was dormant. The CPI rose only 1.3% or so on average in the decade up to 1965. But “that began to change around 1966, when consumer prices rose a surprising 3.5%,” as Bernanke writes.

What caused the sudden change? President Johnson had passed a key tax cut in 1964, the same year he announced the War on Poverty, which culminated with the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. The unemployment rate dropped–in fact below what was sustainable without stoking inflation. 

In December 1965, Martin was able “to take a very public pre-emptive action against inflation,” Bernanke writes, “by announcing a half-percentage-point [rate hike].” But President Johnson was furious, and so began a series of back-and-forths that for the next several years saw the Fed start and stop tightening several times as it tried to coordinate with fiscal policy so as not to overly constrain the U.S. economy.

The halting approach resulted in an inflation rate of almost 6% by 1969. “I’ve been a failure,” Martin told his colleagues as he left office. 

It’s important here to note, amid our current scare, that the U.S. economy fell into recession in 1970 after Martin’s tightening the year before–but it didn’t stop inflation. The CPI still rose 5.6% that year. There were actually two recessions in the 1970s–including a longer, deeper one starting in 1974–but they didn’t keep inflation from rising throughout the decade. Even under Martin’s successor, Arthur Burns, who ran even looser monetary policy, the Fed didn’t enjoy the supposed tradeoff of a stronger economy as a result; it wound up with “stagflation” instead. 

Burns was a gifted economic forecaster, which would seem like the perfect credential for a Fed chair. But philosophically, he worried that monetary policy was an overly broad tool to fight inflation with. He responded to the 1970 recession by slashing rates from 9% to 5% by 1972. 

More importantly, he agreed with the consensus at the time that “the U.S. had become more disposed to inflation for reasons unrelated to monetary policy,” like “the growing ability of large corporations and labor unions to insulate themselves from market forces,” pushing up prices and wages supposedly at will.

In other words, he believed in the “cost-push” versus “demand-pull” theory of inflation, so he thought monetary policy was the wrong tool to fight it with. In fact, as Bernanke writes, it’s “unlikely” President Nixon would have imposed his notorious wage and price controls in the early 1970s without Burns’s support. 

Then, like now, there were also oil price shocks that further confused the situation. To Burns, they proved that “inflation was largely caused by non-monetary factors.” His Fed hiked in response to surging oil prices in 1973, then reversed when the recession hit. Meantime, the political mood still emphasized the priority of achieving full employment, passing the Fed’s “dual mandate” amendment in 1977 and the “Humphrey-Hawkins Act” in 1978 that specifically said the unemployment rate for people 20 and older shouldn’t exceed 3%. 

All told, unlike Martin and unlike his successor, Paul Volcker, Burns “did not believe that inflation was caused primarily by monetary forces, and consequently, he saw tight monetary policy as an indirect, costly, and largely ineffective tool for controlling inflation.” Burns later admitted that the Fed could have restrained inflation by restricting the growth of the money supply, but that would have created “strains” in the markets and economy that the public wouldn’t tolerate. He gave a speech titled “The Anguish of Central Banking” after he left the Fed, to try and explain himself. 

Bernanke makes it obvious that Fed chairs who dismissed inflation as a “non-monetary” phenomenon, or who only haltingly tackled the problem, were mistaken. Volcker, by contrast, came in after Burns with a “shock-and-awe” monetary policy that did choke off inflation; and even after the deep recession it caused in the early 1980s, the economy recovered so strongly that by 1984 President Reagan would be reelected with the largest majority ever. 

Volcker wasn’t concerned with “soft landings”; he made it clear to the public that his only goal was to bring inflation down. Fed Chair Powell himself made clear to lawmakers in February that he believes Volcker was “the greatest economic public servant of the era,” and that he is personally committed to protecting price stability.

But this is the real test now, with markets spiraling downward and growth looking shaky. If Powell backs down without fully conquering inflation, future historians may not treat him kindly.  

 

 

Posted on

How a Co-op Tells its Value to members

How a Co-op communicates its difference to the member-owners.   Sent by a reader and REI advocate.  It’s about values, not product, price or convenience.
REI co-op
Shared values. Not share value.
As a co-op, we put purpose before profits and act in the long-term interests of our members and community. Our Impact Report shows what we’ve done (with your support!) to help connect every person to the power of the outdoors and engage them in the fight to protect it.
Cooperative Action is how we get things done
The Cooperative Action Network adds your voice, and thousands more, to the movement for climate action, environmental stewardship and equity outdoors.
A person is carrying a kayak down a ramp
Adventure more, own less
Rent your gear from REI so you don’t have to fill your closet up with awkwardly shaped outdoor things. Some of us don’t even have closets. Not only is it a good way to try new things, but it’s also more sustainable.
Two people are walking through a forest. One person has an orange backpack on.
Grow the love, shrink the footprint
By utilizing recycled materials, Fair Trade Certified™ factories and bluesign®-approved fabrics for a large portion of our products, we’re taking steps to reduce our footprint.
A collage of three images. Image1: Two kayaks on a lake are filled with three people and a dog. Image 2: Three people are riding bicycles on a trail. image 3: A person is looking out at a viewpoint.
Friendly expert advice
Your go-to source for expert outdoor knowledge you can trust. All the information you need to learn new skills, choose and maintain gear, prep for your trips and have amazing adventures.

 

Posted on

California Dreamin

Just spent four days in California at my granddaughter’s graduation from Claremont McKenna College (CMC).   Some observations from the trip.

  • The governor announced that California will have the largest budget surplus of any state ever. Over $100 billion.
  • Air and water now cost $2 minimum

  • Debit versus credit. You decide.  You pay the exchange fee now for card points!

  • The Search for Employees by recruiting customers. In addition to the signs outside firms such as Wendy’s Now Hiring, there are numerous efforts to reach out to a firm’s customers.

On the TV screen on my flight was the headline, Captain Your Career.  It was an invitation to train to become a pilot for United Airlines.  The website https://unitedaviate.com/ explains that: We intend to hire more than 10,000 pilots in the next decade and have the largest fleet of wide body aircraft in North America, offering you exciting opportunities to advance.

And on my fast food receipt:

  • The next generation’s college thesis topics. Each graduate of CMC writes a senior thesis.  Here are some of the titles:

Which consumers are driving electronic vehicles; An analysis between EV adoption and individual characteristics.

Does H1-B Visa restrictions hinder American innovation?

Moral Hazard in Monetary Policy:  Assessing the Impact of Federal Reserve actions on asset returns during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The impact of merger and acquisition on the United States Video Game industry.

Potential for electoral success and the future of the Republican party.

The effects of CFO gender on earnings quality and financial risk.  

And so forth for over 300 submissions.  Makes one feel behind the learning curve.  One topic I thought might have relevance for credit unions and their regulator:  A Paradoxical relationship: US Government authority and the American people.

  • A green Uber option. A Tesla, EV option to reduce pollution is offered.   The driver said he leased the Tesla for a week at a time for around $330 under a special Hertz-Tesla agreement.  Applicants go online.  When he showed up there were at least 30 other drivers waiting to pick up cars under the plan.   One way to recruit more drivers (provide the auto) and create a positive public image.
  • The reason for traveling-Mom and graduate.