Numbers Matter

Thomas Piketty's book "Capital in the Twenty-First Century is only 685 pages (200 pages less than Wolff's).  It is exactly why Introductions and Conclusions are the best starting points for determining whether to even fan through the pages or even look at the table of contents.

What fun for an latent Economist/Mathematician/Statistician to see after chart of empirical data captured from best available historical sources.  However a sample size of less than 300 years is a difficult foundation to theorize mathematical/economic premises.  Piketty uses the intuitive r>g (return on capital greater than rate of growth of income/output) to conclude that divergence in inequality of wealth will likely outpace convergence.

I did enjoy Piketty's justification for a bias to the French data (vs USA) based on lower population growth and other factors.  Also entertaining was his comment about the discipline of economics in "childish passion for mathematics and for purely theoretical and often highly ideological speculation, at the expense of historical research and collaboration with the other social sciences."   I admit in my studies, I hated the expression "with all other things being equal".

It's always interesting to read the last words.  Usually it ends up being what the author really wants you to understand.

"Yet is seem to me that all social scientists, all journalists and commentators, all activists in the unions and in politics of whatever stripe, an especially all citizens should take a serious interest in money, its measurement, the facts surrounding it, and its history.  Those who have a lot of it never fail to defend their interests.  Refusing to deal with numbers rarely serves the interests of the least well-off,"

In my Vistage 2011 presentation on Risk/Luck I said "Manage your investments or they will Damage you".  It was my way of saying if you don't pay attention to your money your interests will not be served. 

"Manage your money,  or it will manage you"

2019 Jubilee

I just picked up Edward N. Wolff's book "A Century of Wealth in America"  from the library.  It is 865 pages of empirical data and statistics about wealth in the United States from 1900 to 2013 but with most of the attention to the last 50 years.  I read one or two chapters and then lazily decided to listen to any recent  lectures that might be on the internet - thankfully I found one:

Warning - the book and this lecture is not for the faint of heart.  As Wolff himself warns in the preface of his book - "aimed at a more scholarly audience" and "follows the Baconian method of inductive reasoning rather than Descarte's method of using mathematical reasoning:.

With recent political posturing and preliminary 2020 election market testing, the start of the debate of Income and Wealth Inequality is beginning.   Whether this topic will sustain into a 2020 top three debates will be determined soon.  Since it naturally morphs into the political camps about taxation, my prediction it will survive and thrive.  It is especially hot right around April 15th. 

So -  I may spend some blogging time putting my spin on this topic in the future.  Like religion, this one is full of mystery, faith, and tension and full of prophets, teachers and high priests.  The Bible talks more about money than hell and maybe even heaven. Maybe some of the political candidates will recommend a "year of jubilee"  (now when is that really).

Winning in Losing

The results are in -  Lawn Life and Tim Arnold heads to Washington D.C. for the National Jefferson Award ceremony.  Thursday's Cincinnati Rotary celebration and announcement of the three finalists - Lawn Life,  Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank, and SVP Cincinnati from the 39 applications was quite an honor.  Ironically both Lawn Life and Sweet Cheeks were winners in SVP Cincinnati's Fast Pitch Contest (2015 and 2018 respectively).   Lawn Life was also selected in our three year investee programs (see Passionate Tie Breaker - Nov. 2013) and SVP Cincinnati sent Lawn Life to Austin Texas for the SVP International Fast Pitch Competition (see Pitching Joy in Giving - Sept. 2015).

So - for SVP Cincinnati and me personally - it was Winning in Losing :)

Thanks to Glenn Bitzenhofer (SVP Partner), and Lauren LaCerda Merten (SVP Cincinnati Executive Director) for their kind words about me in the Channel 12 video.  Now as a competitor, I hate to Lose (even with the Win Win comment above) and especially when SVP Cincinnati was in the race.  But when I reflect on our purpose -  Invest Differently.   What better outcome than to see one of our Investee Non-Profit not only show sustainability - but excellence in growth and delivery to their mission.

Congratulations to Tim - Hard Work Counts!   Thanks to Cincinnati Rotary for recognizing the Non-Profits in Cincinnati.

Thinking More or Less

Headed back from the SVP Cincinnati All Partner meeting, J.R. and I started discussion the challenge of individuals with chronic pain, illness or conditions - Back/Shoulder/Knees and Joints; Diabetes, Crohn's, Parkinson's, etc.  Only when the reality of these conditions hit you personally - as the individual coping with the condition;  a care-giver living this condition with you;  or a family/friend who sees the condition through the lens of the person affected - do you really understand the daily life challenges and the long term implications the individual faces.

J.R. (one of the most humble people I know and someone who has a chronic condition) had a great response to my own "enlightenment":

"It's not a big deal....  but it is".

How true!  Individuals that persevere; draw the least attention to their condition; live life to the fullest with whatever handicap they have been dealt; demonstrate the ultimate humility.

 It is that very courage that cries out in humility -  "It's not a big deal.

Yet - for those of us close enough to see the adversity they face and deal with - "It is a big deal"!

It's only when you think less about yourself - that others think about you more!