WHAT DID WE LEARN IN 2018?

     At the close of our inaugural year for JAM Views, I thought we should review a few highlights of what we all have learned in order to solidify the foundation for increasing our understanding in the new year.  The Friends of JAM (FOJ) tell me that we began with 4 monthly readers, and now just a few months later we have over 400 monthly readers.  In order to spread more enlightened business and economic thought, shall we make our 2019 goal of sharing JAM Views with 4,000 monthly readers?  We will label this year's mission, "Helping people help themselves," or as Jerry Maguire emphatically urged Rod Tidwell in the Arizona Cardinals' locker room, "Help me help you!" (while Cuba Gooding, Jr. famously "air dried").
     We learned that so much of what we believed, what we accepted at face value, was actually not true.  We discovered that what the experts told us are economic causes and effects, are in reality simply correlations which become accepted thought by after-the-fact confirmation bias ("Destiny or Feather").  We now don't blindly accept their truths.  We find our own.
     In our organizations we learned to implement A-Player cultures which our competitors were too "mentally lazy" to bother with.  We realized that a new employee's first day has ramifications for the next 30 years and decided to knock their socks off.  We decided to operate starfish and spider web companies, instead of silos, so that all of our teammates understood deeply what we did, how we did it, and most importantly, why we were all there ("First Day Means Everything"/"Critical What How Why").
      We shook off the cynicism long enough to understand the big picture of capitalism's role in man's relentless march upwards.  We realized 137,000 people everyday for the last 25 years have been lifted out of poverty, and that today 70% of the people on Earth live in some form of democracy while only 1% enjoyed this liberty 200 years ago! ("We are Winning").  We figured out how growth is a million times more important and effective than higher taxes, with just 1% more GDP creating an extra 1.2 million jobs, and we even now understand that 6-8% growth is a reasonable target. ("Growth Trumps Taxes").  We also realized that capitalism + philanthropy can save the world faster than a trillion dollars of government spending ("Capitalism + Philanthropy").
     Yet with all of our optimism, we still didn't lose sight of the fact that we are in a war against a much larger army replete with miseducated elites and the masses they control with their misinformation.  We figured out why they intentionally do not provide economic education in our children's schools ("Money Illiteracy by Design").  We now understand how regulations, taxes and licensing are simply special interests scams which block small businesses, create homelessness, and imprison the poor. ("Mandates-Taxes-Regs-Homelessness"/"Licensing is a Scheme").
     We learned to stay diligent and build cash reserves for the inevitable market corrections ("Black Swans"), to stand up against fraud with our taxes and shareholder dollars ("Government Has No Money"/ "CEO Pay is Ridiculous"), and to build better education for our citizens ("Corporate Universities").
     And, of course, we learned how to mix business with pleasure by maximizing our entertaining returns with class and grace. ("Business Entertaining"/"Holiday Business Cocktailing").  Our guest blogger, Bob Vukovich, imparted great wisdom.
     It has been an eye-opening start for JAM Views, and I now truly understand the axiom, "The teacher learns more than the students."  Also, I believe one reader's comment summarizes our inaugural efforts best, "You just don't know what you don't know until someone explains it in language you can understand."
     Now as we approach 2019, let us remember to lead our organizations as the Captain we always wanted to be ("Captain vs. Coach"), and maybe one day we, too, will be worthy of a Wall street Journal Obituary ("WSJ Obits").  It is a privilege to provide these weekly posts, and I want you to know how much I appreciate your partnership in our mission.  Please remember to Subscribe to JAM Views through the Email Subscription or the RSS Feed, and please continue to share on FaceBook, Twitter, and all those amazing platforms you may frequent.  We have quite a large crowd to bring into the light.  A special thank you to Friends of JAM for administering this blog, the website, and the continuous legal challenge.  You are an amazing group of friends.

ps.  Next week we start off the new year with "Tales of the Almost Congressman" as my friend, Jeff, provides shocking inside details of what they are truly doing with your money...you won't want to miss it.

pss.  If you would like a refresher, the highlighted Posts are logged into the Archives Section on the JAM Views home page along with the rest of this year's writings.

psss.  Jeff's book "The Fall of MICG" is now available on Amazon Kindle, and a special promotion of free downloads runs December 31st to January 4th.  Get your free copy at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MD9PRKK/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_awdo_b63jCb64W5N3G

"The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake.  We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power."  -  George Orwell, 1984

* For more info on Jeff's Books, Blog, and Legal Challenge, please visit www.jeffmartinovich.com
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* Thank you to the WSJ, Forbes, Fortune, & amazing authors for this year's statistics and quotations.
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DUMB ECONOMICS HURT REAL FAMILIES

     The country's labor market is healthier than it has been in a very long time, but it could be even healthier for the poor and lower middle classes if our politicians had the education and the fortitude to simply follow Adam Smith.  As our JAM Views readers have come to understand, a great majority of our corporate and national problems would disappear if we only allowed people to work in their own self interest and we compensated them for their results, not their time, or not as a gift based on their station in life (means testing).
     We must memorize Mr. Smith's words that "(i)t is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."  To surprise our dinner guests, we should also memorize a lesser-known "Wealth of Nations" passage which reads, "We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages."
     Currently, I am teaching a 25-hour course titled "Building Special Companies" to a room full of prior business owners, and I must admit that I have been a little shocked at their comments and case studies insisting on "only pay for performance."  As I read and listen to the media, I had begun to believe that these simple truisms were dead, but I am re-invigorated when I get to converse with true business owners who have been in the trenches.
     Unfortunately, two recent reports confirm that the Government still just doesn't get it (or as we have discussed, they do and this is how they control the masses by ensuring we do not prosper also).  The Farm Bill is legislation which is meant to support our agriculture industry, but is actually a special-interests scam in which the large players, such as wealthy sugar producers (see Russian Oligarchs), pay congressmen to implement protective import restrictions and regulations to protect their own interests.  Beyond this, 80% of the money allocated to this bill is actually for food stamps, but by calling it a Farm Bill less congressman will publicly oppose the redistribution economics.
     Recently a few members of Congress attempted to ensure that the food stamps came with a 20-hour per week work requirement for able-bodied workers with no small children to care for.  This 20-hours per week (3 hours per day) could be work, volunteering, or even government-funded education.  What a wonderful gift to these 9 million able-bodied citizens, mostly men, to help them help themselves and improve their station in life.  Also, this a huge number to add to our economy's worker participation ratios and productivity percentages.  But, because the politicians either don't understand behavioral economics, or they are intentionally trying to keep their constituencies poor and uneducated, this part of the bill was canceled.  You can't make this up.  So, 40 million Americans now receive food stamps, more than double the number 20 years ago.  It is a crime.
     But, it gets worse.  Daryl Purpera, Louisiana's legislative auditor, conducted a study in which they discovered 82% of Medicaid recipients should not have qualified for all the benefits they received.  Most recipients had underreported their income and taken advantage of enrollment rules which now allow people to join Medicaid without any verification (Can you say "No-Doc Loans?").
     According to Robert Doar, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former commissioner of the New York City Human Resources Administration, the previous Presidential Administration streamlined the enrollment process in order to enroll as many people as possible (No-Doc & No Money Down!), and even prohibited states from verifying participant data.  Next, in total disregard for Adam Smith, the state governments are responsible for enrolling participants and managing costs, while the federal government pays all the bills with "federal matching."  The states are incentivized to spend more and care zero about cost.  How ridiculous is that?
     All of these debilitating programs, packaged and marketed as helping the less fortunate, only destroy our nation's middle and lower classes.  Even worse, the government-designed inherent fraud steals our taxpayer dollars away from the families, and most importantly the children, who truly need the helping hand, the hand up, and the better opportunities.  Dumb economics hurt real families.  See through the rhetoric.  Understand how the math works.  Do something about it.

"Contradictions do not exist.  Whenever you think that you are facing a contradiction, check your premises.  You will find that one of them is wrong."  -  Ayn Rand

* For more information on Jeff's Books, Blog, and Legal Challenge, please visit www.jeffmartinovich.com
* To access JAM Views directly, please visit jeffreyamartinovich.blogspot.com
* Thank you to the WSJ, Forbes, and Fortune for specific quotes and statistics.

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PLAINTIFF BAR ATTORNEYS DESTROY OUR FREE MARKETS

     Plaintiff attorneys continuously bring class-action lawsuits against corporations in schemes and artifices to defraud shareholders and consumers.  They manipulate American citizens, once again, by claiming to defend the "little guy" when in reality they create a never-ending stream of lawsuits to line their own pockets with tens of millions, and many times hundreds of millions, of dollars in blackmail fees.  Most of the time, if prevailing, the end "clients" are each left with a check for $4.95 for their participation.
     This is one of the biggest scams being played upon the American public, but the reason it is allowed to continue is because all of the players are attorneys, members of the Bar.  All are members of the American Bar Association (ABA), as well as the individual state clubs, such as the Virginia State Bar Association (VSBA).  These are likely the most corrupt "trade organizations" in our country, and unfortunately in this facade of an adversarial system, the plaintiff attorneys, defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges, and members of Congress are all members of the same club.
     I, personally, have a great deal of experience with these Bar associations, and even I, one well-educated in the corruption of our bureaucratic systems, continue to be shocked at the Bar's violations of due process and cult-like conspiracy and collusion to protect its members.
     One quick example is how politicians, judges, and lawyers have for years written laws, ordered regulations, and orchestrated multi-million dollar marketing campaigns to promote transparency and public access to the records of complaints and violations against licensed securities brokers.  With the click of a button, we may now find out if any stockbroker has ever been accused of a violation, much less convicted.  Yet, why will the Bar not release this same information for you to perform proper due diligence before hiring an attorney?
     When presented with incontrovertible documentation of attorney theft and fraud against uneducated, poor clients, why is the Bar not mandated to investigate these claims?  Why don't the lawyer judges and the lawyer politicians ensure this system is equal to other professional service organizations?  Maybe it continues because we citizens and free market enthusiasts have allowed for one elite club to control all facets of our system while providing a facade of defending the individual.
     One more quick example is how I paid $25,000 to James Broccoletti of Zoby Broccoletti in Virginia Beach, Virginia, for representation on appeal.  After a few weeks, James resigned as counsel due to a perceived conflict of interest.  He provided no drafts or work papers or any documentation of any work performed, yet for five years he has refused to refund the appeal deposit, or even any partial payment.  The Virginia State Bar has been noticed repeatedly yet will provide no remedy, no due process, will not reveal this complaint publicly, and will not release any information concerning prior complaints about James Broccoletti.
     I know that I promised not to make fun of California for a while, but we have to explain how the Ninth Circuit (The Appeals Court in California) is now attempting to even expand these class-action plaintiff attorneys' powers in the case "Apple vs. Pepper."  Apple revolutionized our world of digital applications by providing a platform to cover all of the overhead expense, intellectual property protections, and financial transaction infrastructure for developers' new apps.  This freed up developers to innovate and greatly expand their distribution capabilities, creating over 2 million apps for us ravenous consumers.  For this incredible service, Apple charges a 30% commission to the developers, who are each free to set their own pricing.
     Because this service has been wildly successful and profitable, the class action attorneys now see an easy target for huge blackmail fees.  Unfortunately, many times the targeted company chooses to simply write the attorneys a large check to go away, and the unaware company shareholders pay this huge tab, but in this case I applaud Apple for standing up to the looters.
     Next, the Government attorneys gets in on the theft as they draft right behind the plaintiff attorneys by authorizing their lawsuits and adding their city, state or federal district to the class action list, so that they can get a large slice for their district and be promoted from Assistant Attorney General to the head honcho position.  In the Apple case, 31 states have joined the relevant cases, claiming they need more power to "protect consumers."  Does any JAM Views reader actually believe this? (If so, please re-read Posts #1 - #38).  This particular case, if successful, would have a great impact on Google and Microsoft's similar platforms, plus be extrapolated to blackmail e-Bay, Amazon Marketplace, Etsy, and Airbnb, whom all fund their incredible platforms with commissions.  Ironically, the app developers themselves, the supposed victims and beneficiaries of any settlement, have filed appeal briefs in support of Apple and against the class actions.
     Do you remember how state attorney generals recently persuaded the courts to overturn online retailers' exemption from paying each state's taxes?  Because of that, even more small retailers, especially Mom & Pop companies, transitioned to these service platforms to handle the financial and tax transactions.  Now the attorney generals are suing the platforms to take another bite of Mom & Pop's livelihood.
     We have Bar attorneys attacking the free markets, Bar state and federal government attorneys adding the Government's weight and threats behind the case, Bar attorney politicians enabling the pillage of free markets for their own photo opportunities and political contributions, and Bar attorney judges making the decisions on how much blackmail ransom is to be paid, all radically hurting the end consumer citizen they all profess to be defending.  How were we dumb enough to let all of these Bar attorneys rule everything in a closed shadowy system?  Why do we let it continue?
     JAM Views members must stop and think.  We must see through the surface rhetoric and educate ourselves in order to understand what is actually occurring in our economy, in our country.  I know you're tired of hearing me say it, but if we just follow the money, we will find the truth.  There is no other truth.  The rest is merely the play of consciousness for the masses.  This week seek more truth.

"Let me give you a tip on a clue to men's character: the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it." - Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

* For more information on Jeff's Books, Blog, and Legal Challenge, please visit www.jeffmartinovich.com
* To access JAM Views directly, please visit jeffreyamartinovich.blogspot.com
* Thank you to the WSJ, Forbes & Fortune for specific quotes and statistics.
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           ECONOMIC EXCUSES vs. JUST DO IT!

     The Federal Reserve last week signaled that interest rates are "just below" a "neutral level," which is their code for the right interest rate to achieve the Fed's two current goals:  full employment and 2% inflation.  JAM Views believes there is not sufficient empirical evidence that a 2% inflation target is necessary, much less not detrimental, but we will address that in another Post.  For now, the financial markets rallied in the belief that The Fed will not need to "take away the punch bowl" from the current strong economy and jobs growth.
     What's most telling is that success begets success, increases optimism, and opens our eyes to what is possible.  I heard Larry Kudlow, the President's Economic Advisor, speaking recently on the John Bachelor Show, and Larry said that we really should be creating 6% to 8% GDP growth rates in this country.  I chuckled thinking that Larry must be reading JAM Views!
     Prior to this Administration's aggressive efforts to cut tax rates, cut regulations, and jumpstart GDP growth, what did the elites tell us for a decade?  They asserted on every talk show that 1) we cannot grow the workforce because we are at "maximum participation rate" (the % of Americans who are able or willing to work), 2) we will not achieve more productivity growth expansion because we have maxed out technology's impact, and 3) we will never again achieve a GDP growth rate above 2% because of the demographics of our country.
     Well as for participation, Americans have been rushing back into the job market since, recently, having a job has become much more appealing, and companies have been able to offer many more of these appealing jobs.  The previous "facts" that we blindly accepted on the talk shows have been proven false.  The Fed also pointed out "there may still be some further room for participation."  Women of prime working age and men ages 25-34 are rushing back into the job market, but still at percentage levels below year 2000.  If we see entitlements and benefits soon require more work or training mandates, we will see these percentages rise even further.  But, didn't they say this was impossible?
     As for productivity growth, The Fed stated that productivity is growing at 2% this year as compared to the previous decade average under 1%.  Productivity growth means that, due to positive technology enhancements or less regulatory overhead and bureaucracy, each worker is free to produce more output inside the same work hour.  Therefore, there is not higher wage cost for more output, and thus not inflationary but actually working against inflation.  This means companies can actually pay workers more per hour without raising the end price of the product for the American consumer.  But, didn't they say these gains were impossible?
     And, of course, they said on every Sunday morning talk show that growth rates above 2% for our country were now impossible.  Those growth days were over.  What is truly sad is that most of the country believed them, and lined up excuse after excuse for our lack of exceptionalism.  They rolled it right into the apology tours.  To borrow some descriptions from Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh, this "grotesque and coordinated" manipulation was "a national disgrace."  Now, our growth is 50% to 100% greater and capable of going much higher if the collectivists and looters don't put on the breaks.  Unfortunately, history repeatedly proves that the great majority of humans prefer excuses over sticking their necks out for overachievement.  And, the humans will do everything possible to crucify the ones who prove their prior excuses were simply lies.
     I recruited Lyle to join our company from Morgan Stanley in hopes that he would be a positive mentor for our younger financial advisors.  But, I soon discovered that he had an excuse every month for why targets were missed and deadlines were pushed back.  Soon, his underachievement began to alienate the A-Players and even create a small sub-culture of C-Players.  You all know the employee.  His worldview infected others around him to have them also believe that our strong performance was not sustainable, and that we should be more "realistic."  Following GE CEO Jack Welch's advice, I eventually encouraged Lyle to spin off a small practice on his own, away from our growing enterprise, but unfortunately not before his negative ideology affected many in the organization.  I should have made the change much earlier.
     For recorded history, no one had ever broken the 4-minute mile barrier until May 6, 1954, when Roger Bannister ran a 3:59 mile in Oxford, England.  Then, less than six weeks later, a blink in time, Australian John Landy ran a 3:58 mile.  Six weeks later in Canada, both men ran sub-4-minute miles in the same race, and the idea quickly spread throughout the world with tens, then hundreds, of runners breaking this unbreakable human barrier.  The mind now believed it was possible.
     In economics and business, just like in everything else, we create what we believe is possible.  Optimism and exceptionalism are what true Americans believe.  We always have.  Stay guarded and mentally strong, and don't let the underachievers convince you that success is not possible, or even probable.  Asset prices, such as the stock market or home values, will fluctuate greatly, and the economy will go through its natural booms and recessions, but never let the Government tell you that great success is not possible.  Educate your mind and strengthen your resolve.

"We often decide that an outcome is extremely unlikely or impossible, because we are unable to imagine any chain of events that could cause it to occur.  The defect, often, is in our imagination."  -  Amos Tversky

*  For more information on Jeff's Books, Blog, and Legal Challenge, please visit www.jeffmartinovich.com
*  To access JAM Views directly, please visit jeffreyamartinovich.blogspot.com
*  Thank you to the WSJ, Forbes, and Fortune for the statistics and quotes.
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MINIMUM WAGE POLICIES = MORE BAD ECONOMICS

     JAM Views exposes business and economic policies which consistently hurt the very beneficiaries the politicians are claiming to help. Injecting artificial minimum wages into free markets is high up on the bad policies list, and soon you are going to be hearing about it constantly in the news, again.
     Anyone who makes it past Econ 101 knows that minimum wage laws drastically harm poor people, the middle class, and the overall GDP growth of the country. Unfortunately, less than 1% of the country takes the Econ 101 class (because "they" don't want us to take it - "Money Illiteracy By Design" Post 4/21/18). Also, at least prior to the current Presidential Administration, everyone has been afraid to honestly discuss how these policies destroy jobs. Now, Representative Bobby Scott, a long-term Congressman from Hampton Roads, Virginia, and the upcoming Chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, is the latest politician to manipulate his own constituency into fighting for the $15 minimum wage. He and Nancy say that this is on the agenda for the first 100 hours of the new Congress. Do they believe that we are not educated enough to understand how this hurts us, or are they not educated enough, themselves, to understand the math? I constantly struggle with this question.
     Michael Saltsman, Managing Director at the Employment Policies Institute, recently released some minimum wage history and discussion of how we even came up with the current $15. In 2013, President Obama declared that a $9 federal minimum wage was ideal. In 2014, Democrats decided $10 was the correct wage. Then in 2015, Rep. Bobby Scott declared $12 was the right price! (Almost sounds like fraudulently inflating a stock price in a hedge fund, but I digress). Then in 2017, Bernie Sanders introduced the $15 Raise the Wage Act. So, why would anyone believe that there is any economic analysis or validity behind this number, or that there is a beneficial impact to a mandated minimum wage to begin with? Have you ever heard the story of how President Trump, off the cuff, mentioned a border wall during an early campaign speech, the crowd went nuts, and then it became the foundation of his Presidential run? This is how the world works.
     If you adjust for inflation, the previously-implemented minimum wage has fluctuated from $4 to $11 in today's dollars, with the average wage minimum being $7.50. Therefore, the current $15 policy is double our nation's historic average.
     Studies by Miami and Trinity Universities show that by 2020 over 40% of the hourly workforce would be covered by a $15 minimum wage, but 2.3 million jobs would likely be eliminated. A Harvard and Mathematical Policy Research study determined that in San Francisco each $1 increase in mandated minimum wage created a 14% increase in restaurant closures. In JAM Views we have previously covered how the wait staff and bartenders, themselves, have violently opposed a $15 minimum wage law in Washington, D.C. Bartender Valerie Graham told the D.C. Council, "We chose these jobs because we make far more than minimum wage!"
The University of Washington released a study last year claiming that Seattle's minimum wage, raised in 2016 to $13 and next year to be $16, has caused a nearly 10% drop in hours worked. This has a net result of $75 to $125 less in the monthly paychecks of low-wage earners. No politics, no good intentions, and no Marxist policies can repeal the fundamental laws of economics. We consume less of what costs more.
     What does not get any press is the fact that thousands of employers today, to include Amazon, McDonalds and Wal-Mart are actually implementing base pays as high as $15, but because of low unemployment and lower taxes - not government mandates. Private equity investor Andy Kessler summed it up as, "In February 1962 U.S. non-farm payroll stood at 55.2 million. Fifty-six years and several major tax cuts later, jobs stand at 149.5 million. Call it basic and universal capitalism. Let's stick with that, shall we?"
     Since everything, everyday comes down to money, and all the rest is noise, why don't we demand that every politician pass an economics competency exam? "They" love to use licensing to control our free markets ("Licensing is a Scheme to Stop Competition" Post 10/7/18), so why don't we require them to have a license in basic economics and the principles of capitalism which built this country? Doesn't that make sense?

"It is sometimes easier to make the world a better place than to prove you have made the world a better place." - Michael Lewis.

* For more information on Jeff's Books, Blog, and Legal Challenge, please visit www.jeffmartinovich.com
* To access JAM Views directly, please visit jeffreyamartinovich.blogspot.com
* Thank you to the WSJ, Forbes and Fortune for the above statistics and quotes.
* SUBSCRIBE TO JAM VIEWS