In late August, I was driving home from New York City when I came upon a throng of young adults who were coming back from an Electric Zoo concert on Randall's Island. Many were wearing swimming trunks, and were obviously ripped. They had had a blast... no doubt about it. The event underscored the current shift in the economy from Services to Experiences which is being driven by Millennials. Interestingly, the Experience Economy has been in the works for a long time.
The phenomenon didn't just pop up, it was mentioned in Alvin Toffler’s 1970 book, “Future Shock,” and then in a famous paper in 1998 that observed the direction consumers were moving toward. Think of those old westerns where everyone in town went to the general store for coffee beans and other staples. Fast forwarding to the future, we have packaged coffee to make our lives so much easier. We are also able to pick-up brewed coffee, which didn’t take too long to become the next big thing in the coffee world. And today, young adults buy their coffee from shops that have Wi-Fi and comfortable seating.
An Eventbrite-Harris poll on millennials and their spending preference known as the "Experience Economy" is a tell-tale sign:
| 78% | Prefer spending money on experiences over material things |
| 82% | Have been to a live event in the past year |
| 72% | Want to allocate more money to real-life experiences |
| 70% | Admit to suffering from FOMO (Fear of missing out) |
Last week, the House passed a continuing resolution known as a CR that will keep the federal government operating until December 11th… and you thought you were living paycheck to paycheck. The fact is the last time our government passed a real budget was in 1997. CR-time typically means drama, but the GOP is smelling victory in November, and wants no part of a government shutdown. So, Export- Import stays, and the President will get more money for war than he requested. I think it is a shame and a defeat for the American public. The Export-Import Bank is a massive engine of crony capitalism with millions going to green or so-called green projects, in addition to multi-billion corporations gaining access to taxpayer funds and backing.
| Spending Levels | $1.012 Trillion | December 11, 2014 |
| Export-Import | $27.3 Billion | June 30, 2015 |
| Internet Tax Moratorium | N/A | December 11, 2014 |
| Overseas Contingency Operations | $26.0 billion | December 11, 2014 |
Speaking of Green projects
On Sunday, the last official day of one of the coolest summers I can remember, about 300,000 protestors gathered in NYC to demand action on global warming. The event was led by Leonardo DiCaprio, who may not have enough star power to help this fading crusade.
Today, the official UN Summit will boost leaders from 125 countries, however, missing are leaders from the biggest creators of carbon emissions:
- India
- Russia
- China
- Germany
- Australia
- Canada
Stephen Harper's absence is embarrassing, especially considering that he is in New York today. Perhaps, even more embarrassing is the fact that ice in the Antarctica is now 7.6 million square miles, a new all-time record.
Today’s Session
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