RICHARD, DUNCAN & CARTER
     Even though JAM VIEWS is constantly imploring the world to question everyone and everything, to find our own truths, and to find our own paths to success, apparently there are still a few billion humans we have failed to reach!  Every week we continue to be barraged with wild stories, accusations and emphatic narratives from our leaders and media, most of which turn out to be completely false.
     As JAM VIEWS always ponders, are these people in positions of influence simply incompetent or are they proactively fraudulent?  I repeatedly provide you case studies because, otherwise, this constant flow of misinformation easily turns us all into "Joe Versus The Volcano" Tom Hanks cogs in the dystopian system.
     As you contemplate your 2020, please reject these influences.  Please write down some Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAG's)!  Differentiate yourself from the sheep!  Take Risks!  Do something every day that scares the hell out of you!  Put a Post-it Note on your bathroom mirror that screams at you every morning, "Loved by her Friends and Feared by her Foes!" [Reminder: don't join Planet Fitness until February 15th when the mass of C-Players have already quit, again].  And, to take control of your off-the-charts 2020, remember not to believe anything anyone tells you, good or bad, and to just charge down your own path.  The Dali Lama phrases this as, "Have no attachments, positive or negative."
     Everyone telling you how bad everyone else has behaved and telling you to be "realistic" about your own goals is simply promoting their own self-interests and fears and destroying your true destiny.  Just take the red pill in 2020, and see how deep the rabbit hole goes.  Morpheus implored Neo, "All I'm offering is the truth."  A couple examples this week to help us sharpen our saw:

1.  Have you had a chance to see Clint Eastwood's new movie "Richard Jewell?"  Clint, a great American, felt it was very important in today's environment to tell the country this story.  As you likely know, Richard found the bomb at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and saved a large number of lives by clearing the area.  Yet, the FBI suspected Richard as being the one who also planted the bomb.  This was a reasonable option to pursue, but the FBI used the power of the government and the media to destroy Richard, making him then an easy target for criminal prosecution.  The FBI leaked this information to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, so that ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN could set up shop across from his home.  Then the FBI attempted to trick Richard into signing a false confession during a fake training video ruse.
     He was innocent, yet the entire country believed him to be guilty founded upon the overwhelming power of the FBI and media.  Today, a great number of Americans still believe him to be guilty because of this ingrained belief that positions of authority tell us the truth.  In a future post we will address the half-century orchestrated "partnership" between the government and Hollywood-Television.

2.  Duncan Robinson grew up in a good family, went to a small school, and "wanted to use basketball to get into a school that normally (he) wouldn't be able to get into."  Everyone told him that at 5-foot-7 this would not be possible.  His mother, Elisabeth Robinson, still remembers the incredulous response of his school's principal when she inquired about filming Duncan's games for college recruitment: "You don't think he's going to play basketball in college, do you?"
     So, he worked harder, and the universe responded to his indefatigable hope and commitment by granting him another foot to 6-foot-7!  He was accepted to the elite Williams College, a Division III sports program, but after a year the national powerhouse, Michigan, recruited him away.  He wasn't drafted into the NBA, but was granted a spot in the summer league, and then was rewarded with a contract with the Miami Heat's G-League development team (like AAA baseball).  The Heat then signed him to a two-year $3.1 million contract, each step more implausible than the one before.  Now, he's one of the NBA's most-efficient players, shooting 45% on 3-pointers this season [Math: that equates to shooting 67% on regular 2-pointers.  Unheard of!].
     Duncan never listened to the crowd or took their "advice," and neither did Mom!  He stayed in the "now," focused on everything that was within his control, and the universe continually worked to assist him.  He knew that all he could do was have BHAG's, keep hope and faith, and commit to simply outwork everyone else of the planet.  Good for him.

3.  Finally, staying with the FBI, it appears that 20-years after Richard Jewel's abuses, nothing has changed.  Carter Page recently began speaking out about the abusive investigation into his life by our intelligence agencies.  Inspector General Michael Horwitz's report, as well as the unprecedented rebuke from the FISA Court Judges themselves, claimed the FBI committed "at least 17 significant errors or omissions" in gaining a surveillance warrant against him, and continually leaked information to the media to destroy Carter.  He states, "From the day news of the investigation broke, I have faced threats to my life and have been forced to live like a fugitive.  I still don't' fee safe enough to establish a fixed residence."
     He continued, "After all this testimony, and after more than a year of round-the-click surveillance under FISA warrants, I have never been charged with a crime."  We must understand that most of what the world is telling us is false.

     This week, this New Year, I hope you are able to work through the fog and friction of modern life, and to become laser-focused on positive, honest and productive pursuits [Be Duncan!].  I pray that you may shelter yourself from the evil and distractions, and direct your energies to greatness for you and the people you love.  You will be loved by your friends and feared by your foes!  Happy New Year!  Peace and Prosperity!

"For me, the perfect New Year's Eve involves going to bed early, before midnight, and maybe some caviar and vodka.  It's hard to find the best caviar now.  The caviar from a company called Roe is somewhat delicious, but nothing's as good as what I used to eat in Moscow."  -  You've gotta love Martha Stewart!

** Thank you to the WSJ, Forbes and Fortune for the above quotes and statistics.

** 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 

* SUBSCRIBE TO JAM VIEWS

* PLEASE USE THE BELOW SHARE BUTTONS TO SPREAD THE WORD!

CORNUCOPIA OF DUMB ECONOMICS
     Has the world taken the holidays off from reading their weekend JAM VIEWS?  They must have because the news is overflowing with dumb projects which violate every behavioral economics truism we attempt to populate in order to save the world!  I think they must be doubling up on the brunch mimosas and bellinis and forgetting their 10-minutes of weekend JAM VIEWS wisdom.  Let's do a quick review:

1.  Simone Barron, a restaurant worker in Seattle, wrote that she lost her job because "the restaurant where I've worked for six years is closing as a consequence of the city's harmful minimum-wage experiment."  Simone worked for Tom Douglas, one of Seattle's best known chef-restaurateurs for 30 years, but he couldn't overcome the 73% rise in minimum wages from $9.47 in 2015 to $16.39 today, not including the significant tips!  That's just plain dumb.  So Tom's restaurant Tanakasan had to close.  Simone attempted to return to working at Sitka and Spruce, operated by James Beard Award-winning owner, Matt Dillon, but after 14 years it is closing also.  Finally, Simone landed an interview at Super Bueno, owned by established chef Ethan Stowell, but before she could make her pitch Mr. Stowell announced that Super Bueno will close at the end of the year.  Simone summarized, "I'm proudly progressive in my politics, but my experience shows that progressives should reconsider minimum wage laws that hurt the very workers they're trying to protect."  A central JAM VIEWS theme.

2.  The House passed the $738 billion National Defense Authorization Act, the Senate is expected to approve, and President Trump is expected to sign.  On top of including payments to the military-industrial complex defense contractors whose cost-plus contracts go over budget by, literally, billions of dollars (another Post), the compromise pork added to the bill includes 12 weeks (3 months) of PAID leave for all 2.1 million civilian federal workers.
      So, if John's wife has a baby, John may take 3 months off work and receive his normal paycheck, and his desk will, by law, be waiting for him.  Now, I am a huge believer and supporter of early child care, bonding, and this neuroscience.  You label it, I love it!  Yet, I love it with my own money, and you can choose to love it with your own money, or not.  Where is this in the Constitution?  Can you envision walking into Joe's Auto Body and saying, "Hey Joe, if you didn't hear, Roxanne and I just had our fourth, so I will be gone for the next 3 months.  Oh, and remember just like last time, keep sending my checks to the house and make sure my stall is waiting for me when I get back."
     Of course, no real business could stay alive if this was the case, but government employees can do it because there is no bottom line, no stock options, no incentive to operate under-budget, and they are spending YOUR money. (Remember Post: "The Government Has No Money").  Michael Jackson told us, "If you can't feed the baby then don't have the baby!"  Then once John eventually returns to work, and the Chinese are 3-more months ahead of him, he then wants YOU to pay for the childcare for John Junior.  Bad policies incentivize unproductive, irresponsible, nanny-state behavior.  Maybe that's the plan?

3.  Speaking of unproductive nanny-states, French President Emmanuel Macron is again trying to find a capitalist bone in his body and extend France's retirement age and pension payouts.  He is attempting to consolidate the country's 42 different pension plans into one universal system, and he has tried to pay bonuses to get people to work to age 64.  They are rioting in the streets!  I know plenty of 64-year-olds who can work circles around French 40-year-old C-Players, not to mention they possess incredible wisdom and experience so valuable to any organization.
      With increased life expectancies, what do Jean val Jean and Cosette plan on doing for the next 30 years?  Better yet, the Paris Opera Ballet is on strike because Macron wants to extend their pension eligibility date past age 42.  "If the government insists on making dancers perform beyond a youthful age, it won't be pretty, argued dancer Alexandre Carniato."  Will someone please tell Alexandre we are not asking him to dance Swan Lake until age 62, but instead telling him to go get another job and support himself once he decides to make a change? (see Rockettes, B-52's, et. al.).  We laugh at much of this, but it is overtaking the U.S. while we sleep (and dream of dancing sugar plums).

4.  Pay attention to elite coasties in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and California attempting to quietly pass a new bill in the House which raises the $10,000 cap on state and local taxes (SALT) deductible on federal returns.  These politicians for the elites are attempting to raise income tax rates to offset this end-around, because there is a giant sucking sound of citizens leaving these states for the American freedom of Texas and Florida.  They again want to nullify the tax reforms of 2017 which canceled your state (you) and my state (me) paying for their "luxurious lifestyles," to borrow a phrase from some U.S. Attorneys I know.  Wait, I thought these were all the same people saying they help the poor and middle class!

5.  Finally, as you likely know, Elizabeth upped her wealth tax from 3% to 6% per year.  Now since these rich people don't keep their billions sitting in a Navy Federal Credit Union Passbook Christmas Fund Account, they have to sell shares of their companies each year to pay Elizabeth.  They will have to first pay capital gains tax (rising from 20% to 39.6%), plus the state and local taxes, before getting her the check.  All of her Silicon Valley supporters will have to actually pay 71.5% to get Elizabeth her money.  The hilarious part will be watching Zuckerberg and Bezos sell 61% of Facebook and Amazon to pay the income, capital gains and wealth taxes over just the first five years.  Now this has potential!  Professor Hank Adler of Chapman University calls this the "trifecta of tax increases!"

     Over the holidays, try to keep you blood pressure low as the proposals get crazier and crazier, but stay diligent.  The more they repeat the false narratives, the more we begin to think they may be true.  This is how it works.  This week nod your head as the visiting relatives pull from the Cornucopia of Dumb, and just order another mimosa.  Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a peaceful and prosperous New Year!

"Great leaders don't just out-perform their rivals.  They transform the sense of what's possible in their fields."  - Bill Taylor

**Photo credit goes to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

** Thank you to the WSJ, Forbes and Fortune for the above quotes and statistics.

** 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 

* SUBSCRIBE TO JAM VIEWS

* PLEASE USE THE BELOW SHARE BUTTONS TO SPREAD THE WORD!

DIFFERENTIATE NOW WITH QUALITY & SUBSTANCE
     Famous "car guy" David E. Davis Jr. once said, "The problem with General Motors is that nowhere in the United States is there a 14-year-old boy with tears in his eyes saying, 'Please, Dad, buy a Lumina.'"  This says it all.  For your business, charity, and you, personally, to be successful today you must differentiate, do something special, and inspire people!
     We know that vanilla just doesn't work anymore, and unfortunately, the masses now believe that to get attention you must become the loudest, most-obnoxious, most-classless voice out there.  We all think it is now proper to be outrageous, watch couples throwing plates in restaurants, and follow whatever activist screams the loudest.
     But this week I want to help us follow the advice of class and grace leaders, true influencers, who substantially differentiate themselves and their organizations so smoothly that many times you never notice their "cool factor."  A short list for the week:

1.  Say what you mean, and do what you say, regardless of how inconvenient or painful.  The loudmouths and people in authority out there have a tremendous problem keeping their word. [Secret: because no one makes them].

2.  If you have to, speak of what you have done, not what great accomplishments you are planning.  Talk is cheap and is totally discounted today by anyone who matters.  Yoda said it best, "Do or do not, there is no try."  In our investment firm, every teammate, top to bottom, would stand up before the entire company once a quarter with one slide of what their targets were for the upcoming quarter, but more importantly with a second slide of what they told us last quarter and the objective-quantifiable results. [Tip: this process helps the C-Players resign before the next quarter without you having to fire them].

3.  When customers/clients walk into your office or shop, shock the hell out of them with the receptionist jumping to their feet, shaking hands and greeting them with a warm welcome.  Lead them to the coffee and snack bar, and before their appointment let them relax with peaceful background music and a soothing lavender fragrance. [Hint: olfactory senses are the most powerful memory makers].  Thank you to cool-guy-receptionist Justin for teaching me.

4.  When you and your team make a mistake, blow away your customer with your aggressive follow up to fix the problem and turn this disadvantage into an advantage.  The extra phone call the next week stating "we just wanted to double check," seals their loyalty to the company for eternity. [Market Research: Ritz Carlton claims that the average hotel guest rates them a 4 out of 5, but if they screw something up during the stay and then blow them away with the fix and hospitality, the guest scores them repeatedly 5/5 and increases their frequency of stays].

5.  Implement a mandatory phone/email/messaging etiquette program and separate your team from nearly everyone on the planet.  When a customer says "thank you," everyone says, "my pleasure."  Read the great many books on proper systems/voicemails/emails/messaging management, decide what works in your business and then put it in stone - zero excuses!  For example, our organizations must return all voicemails (internal or external) by the end of the day if received before Noon, and before tomorrow Noon if received in the afternoon. [Tip: I would many times make the call driving to my son's lacrosse game, "John, hey I just wanted to call you to let you know I received your message, and I wasn't able to get that answer today, but wanted to let you know I will get it to you tomorrow."  John would say, "Oh...okay, thanks so much for calling."  In 30-seconds you have forever differentiated yourself from the masses and secured John as a client for life].

6.  Look sharp.  It has nothing to do with money.  Don't dress like a slob, but instead make a statement that you have a little style, you care about yourself, and you respect the people with whom you are working or socializing.  As we taught you in earlier Posts, drive a car with a little style, and buy it after the early depreciation so you spend even less than your neighbor with the Lumina.  Your lawn looks amazing, you stay healthy and strong, your office has character, and people don't look past you like another one of the sheep. [Secret: Have your kids bounce out of their chair and give a firm handshake and look the adults in the eyes during the next introduction, and everyone will be baffled by how you are doing this].

7.  Greatly separate yourself by applying our many Posts stressing leadership-by-example.  Don't voice loud opinions about how others have failed us until you commit to greatness yourself.  Don't tell your employees what to do, but instead show them and do it with them.  Clean the office kitchen, go to Staples and pick up the supplies, go on sales calls regularly with the rookies, beat everyone to the office every day, take responsibility for every mistake in the organization, play third base on the company softball team, the list is endless [Hint: the best part is that your competitor leaders are not doing any of this - I guarantee it!].

8.  Finally, focus every day on being that class and grace leader we frequently discuss.  Be the leader you always wanted to be.  While your competitor is beating their chest, screaming and doing something stupid, stay focused on the prize.  Actions, not words.  Productivity, not nonsense activity.  Build your resume of accomplishments which gives you the confidence to stay the course for quality and character. [Truth: Give your spouse and kids someone to truly look up to - they know the truth].

     Well, I hope I don't sound like your grandfather, but the stupidity of today's reality TV and social media cultures provides us an incredible opportunity!  It has never been easier to differentiate your business or differentiate yourself on the climb up the corporate ladder.  So many out there are just phoning it in, and when they do finally get motivated, so many times it's about all the wrong things.  Don't buy the Lumina, and don't study international politics with Matt, Ben and LeBron.  Think these things through!  Have a great week!

"We will not lie, steal or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does."  -  USAFA, 1956

**Photo credit goes to www.Forbes.com.mx

** 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 

* SUBSCRIBE TO JAM VIEWS

* PLEASE USE THE BELOW SHARE BUTTONS TO SPREAD THE WORD!

LESSONS FROM THE SERBS
     JAM VIEWS continuously urges us all to open our minds, see business and the world differently, and find our own truths.  This week I want to tell you an incredible story which incorporates so many lessons we strive to teach and instill with our JAM VIEWS Mission: greatness requires risks, question everyone and everything, we are exponentially stronger and smarter than we ever imagined, there are amazing adventures out there in business and life if we just get off the couch, and the universe conspires to provide us incredible success if we just keep the faith and finish the race!
     During World War II, American B-17 and B-24 bombers crews were ordered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to undertake risky missions bombing oil fields and refineries in Ploesti, Romania, approximately 35 miles north of Bucharest.  This massive complex was producing almost a million tons of oil a month, accounting for nearly a third of the petroleum products that fueled Hitler's tanks, battleships, submarines and aircraft.
     Unfortunately for our courageous airmen, Ploesti was protected by the best German fighter pilots in the Luftwaffe.  These necessary low-level raids were terrifying and difficult, and getting back home was even more problematic as the German Messerschmitt fighters hunted our vulnerable bombers.  A large number of our planes were lost, and another large number of our aircrews parachuted into occupied Yugoslavia when their planes were mortally wounded on the route back to Allied bases.
     But, the universe would intervene.  Serbian General Draza Mihailovich had moved his army up into the hills of Yugoslavia to resist the Germans, and to resist General Josip Broz Tito, the socialist Partisans leader battling to move Yugoslavia into the Soviet communist cradle at the close of the war. [Envision current socialist politicians or university professors].
     When airmen would land, they would be met with Serbian men, women and children and an outpouring of hugs, kisses on both cheeks, and chants of "Hero Americans!" [Full disclosure; Martinovich is Serbian for "Son of Martin."].  Mihailovich's army and these loyal followers would hide the airmen, nurse them to health, and share their homes, clothes and minimal food.  Most importantly, they shared their plum brandy!  The General protected all of these Serbians from the raping, pillaging, murdering Germans and, being a lover of America, assigned Serb fighters to protect each individual American.  These airmen, which grew into the hundreds, were secretly transported to Pranjane, Yugoslavia, Mihailovich's stronghold, in order to best protect and care for them.
     Meanwhile, U.S. and British intelligence had been infiltrated by socialists and communists whom obfuscated the truth on the ground, and manipulated FDR and Churchill into supporting Tito in Yugoslavia while abandoning Mihailovich's army, falsely-labeling them as German collaborators.  This fake news was propagated by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursors to MI-6 and the CIA. [Envision Steele Dossier].
     Although abandoned by the Allied Government, Mihailovich chose to do the right thing because it was simply the right thing to do.  He continued to protect the Americans.  He covertly sent telegrams to Washington, alerting them to the great number of airmen who were still alive, but these were ignored by the State Department, as the politics supported "the other side." [Envision the Kurds].
     The universe intervened again.  Mirjana Vujnovich had escaped from Serbia when the Nazis invaded, surviving a wild two-year odyssey through ten countries to make it to America and a job in the Yugoslavian Embassy in Washington, DC.  She heard rumors of these downed airmen and sent a letter to her husband in Italy, George Vujnovich, a native of the Pittsburgh Serbian-American community who left the steel mills for a position with the  OSS.
     George battled the establishment to save these men, but was thwarted by our own government at every turn.  British SOE counterparts even sabotaged multiple missions until Vujnovich demanded only Americans going to save Americans.  But how would it be possible?
     George recruited three teammates, to include George Musulin, a former Pitt offensive lineman, to parachute into Mihailovich's territory to organize a rescue against all odds.  The Serbs and Americans built by hand a landing strip in the mountains in the middle of Nazi-occupied territory.  Vujnovich sent in C-47 cargo planes in the night, and these incredible pilots executed death-defying landings and takeoffs to first save the wounded and most ill.  As the word of success secretly spread through the Air Force squadron, more planes arrived, and now with American P-51 Mustang and P-38 Lightning fighter escorts.  The airmen almost froze on the cold flights back to safety since they gave their coats and boots to the Serbians - the only gifts they could return for their lives.
     The mission that was only authorized to last a couple weeks went on for six months, during which George and his team rescued 432 American airmen and 80 British, Canadian, French, Italian and Russians.  Not one single life was lost in the effort!  How is that possible?!  Universe.
     Once complete, the military and State Department refused to acknowledge this incredible story.  All participants were given gag orders with threats of court martial. [see today's Cato Institute v. SEC, unconstitutionality of gag orders].  The British and U.S. Governments gave credit for these saved lives to General Tito and the communist Partisans, even planting stories in the New York and Washington newspapers [see today everyday].
     With this backing, Tito completed his takeover of Yugoslavia and gift-wrapped this territory for Stalin and the communists who destroyed Eastern Europe for several decades.  Mihailovich was captured and trial set.  American airmen campaigned and protested across the country for the U.S. to save Mihailovich, yet the State Department would only send a letter.  A letter. [see Afghan & Iraqi interpreters for the U.S. military refused Visas to U.S.].  Two days after the trial, Mihailovich was executed.
     Years later as the betrayal leaked, and Churchill admitted his deception by communist moles led by SOE agent James Klugmann, General Dwight D. Eisenhower urged President Truman to posthumously award General Mihailovich the Legion of Merit, the highest award possible for a foreign national.  But, again, the government covered this up, and all of the airmen, and the press, were never notified of the award.  The State Department was concerned about offending "current Yugoslavia."  The medal was put in a drawer in the State Department for 20 years!  In 1967 the medal was discovered, and in 1997 the file was declassified.  In 2005 the surviving airmen traveled to Yugoslavia to present the medal to Mihailovich's daughter Gordana, and Gregory A. Freeman began researching his book, "The Forgotten 500," a gripping tale you won't be able to put down.  A JAM VIEWS Book Club recommendation.
     So many lessons for us today.  Those whom fail to study history are doomed to repeat it.  In the new year when faced with a great challenge, just ask yourself, "What would Mihailovich do?  What would Vujnovich do?"  Take a stand this year.  Don't believe what the masses tell you.  Take risks.  Do the right thing simply because it's the right thing to do.

** Thank you to Gregory A. Freeman, "The Forgotten 500," Dutton Caliber, 2007.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."  - Margaret Mead

** 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 

* SUBSCRIBE TO JAM VIEWS

* PLEASE USE THE BELOW SHARE BUTTONS TO SPREAD THE WORD!

THE GOVERNMENT HAS NO MONEY

THE GOVERNMENT HAS NO MONEY

(Jeff was unavailable this week, so we wanted to post one of the top-rated Posts from April 2018 which seems so relevant with our current Presidential campaigns.  Enjoy!)

     Recent generations of Americans have been raised and educated to view the Government as an omnipotent and never-ending caretaker, as if it is "the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end." We personify this caretaker with fatherly characteristics and responsibilities. We state, "They should pay for the poor...They should tax the rich...They should increase Social Security...They should pay for my childcare..." Why do we believe that because we were born, that some entity behind the green curtain should pay for our comfort, much less our survival? Is this belief inherent, or is it instilled?
     Remember that we must localize all monetary transactions in order to begin to understand how things actually work. In this situation, what we do not realize is that there is no "They." There is only you, me, and our neighbors. If I want someone to pay for my childcare, I should walk over to Mrs. Johnson's apartment once she gets home from work at the bottling plant and let her know that I need her to write me a check. Now, I will need to be prepared for the fact that she might belt out a little Michael Jackson, "If you can't feed the baby then don't have the baby," and moonwalk herself back into her apartment. But, at least I would feel like I had shown good character and asked her directly for her money.
     Governments are pass-through entities just like the Limited Liability Company (LLC) which you set up for your amazing Rodan & Fields skin care side business. "They" only have the money that you agree to give them (and yes, you have to agree - Another Post). "They" produce nothing, create nothing, and cannot survive without you - not the other way around.
     Now follow me on some of these numbers. A tip - read the numbers slowly and attempt to digest what they really mean. Human nature forces our eyes to glaze over when reading big numbers, and this is exactly what "They" are counting on. The U.S. federal budget this year is approximately $4.5 Trillion. This is the amount of your money which "They" are going to spend. But, it gets worse. You are only agreeing to give them $3.5 Trillion, so "They" are going to borrow another $1 Trillion from the Chinese, the Japanese, and the Germans so "They" can pay for all of the things we believe that "They" need to give us. Now since Mrs. Johnson gave you the moonwalk instead of a check, and since you still feel that someone else should pay for your childcare, "They" knocked on her door for you and took her money under threat of a long list of punishments, to include federal prison. For the rest of the money that Mrs. Johnson couldn't come up with, "They" went hat-in-hand to foreign countries and bartered away more of Mrs. Johnson's, and your, future in order to get the rest of the money.
     Now stay with me. since World War II, taxes have grown 15% per year faster than Mrs. Johnson's paycheck from the bottling company, and the federal government's spending has grown a shocking 50% faster than her paycheck. So each year, the IRS Agent knocking on her door takes a larger slice of her pay. But, "They" still don't have enough, so they travel the globe and beg other countries for more and more every year.
     Some big numbers again. Because of this trend, the National Debt (our Collective Mortgage) is about $20 Trillion, which equates to $50,000 for every man, woman, and child (so get Junior to work!). But, this does not count Social Security and Medicare, which also have no money. It will cost you and me another $80 Trillion to make up the shortfall we have not saved for the Baby Boomers. This is on top of the Social Security and Medicare taxes we will already be paying out of our paychecks for the indefinite future. This fiasco is called an "unfunded liability."
     Very important. When "They" tell you that Social Security will "run out of money" in 2032 (or whatever year they keep changing it to), what that really means is that will be the first of many years in which annual worker payments into the system will not be sufficient to make the payments out to the recipients of the system. There is no money sitting in a Social Security bank account holding all of the contributions you gave them out of your paycheck for all those years. The extra "savings" were raided by politicians years ago. There is no money.
     So because we thought it would be rude and even outrageous to personally ask Mrs. Johnson for her money, and we instead got "Them" to do it by force, we all now collectively owe $100 Trillion, not to include the money we are already obligated to pay each year into the future. I don't even know how many zeroes are in $100 Trillion. Fourteen?
     In another Post we will address different options for possibly saving this amazing country from bankruptcy, or at least a painful devaluation, like so many other countries have had to do throughout history. But until then, we need to understand that all economics are local. If you want to ask your neighbor to cover some of your expenses, then do it. If you want to pay someone else's bills, that would be a wonderful gesture. Just understand that there is not a middleman who is paying for what we feel we deserve. Not only that, but that guy has even already blown all the cash we gave him to hold for us!

"The perfect political party would promote as small a government as possible along with pure capitalism, while not promoting their personal beliefs on me."
   -   Jeff Martinovich , "Just One More: The Wisdom of Bob Vukovich," Ash Press, Spring 2020

* 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 

* SUBSCRIBE TO JAM VIEWS

AMMO FOR THE HOLIDAYS!
     As we approach the holiday dinners and relatives staying two days past the "fail-safe-point," I thought I would give you a small smorgasbord of sensible facts and issue updates for you to invoke when Cousin Eddie's arguments clearly commit violence against common sense.
     Go for the jugular early and show them how cutting taxes actually increases the country's tax revenue.  This drives them crazy!  The Congressional Budget Office reports that through the first 7 months of this year, tax revenues rose 2% TO $2.041 trillion even though the corporate tax rate was dropped 14%.
     Of course, Aunt Ridley from Portland will say, "This just helps the rich!"  Calmly pour a little more shiraz and inform the table that the Census Bureau reported that real median household income (amount earned by the very middle) recently hit $65,084 in 2019 dollars.  That's the highest level ever and a gain of $4,144 (6.8%) since the current Administration took office and passed the tax cuts.  For comparison, during the previous Administration's nearly 8 years, the median household income rose just under $1,000.  How can this be possible?
     When Uncle Hunter, or Professor Hunter as he prefers, pulls out his Yale sweater, remind the living room that student-loan debt has now hit $1.5 trillion and college prices keep going up simply because the government guarantees the debt to a third party (the university) without the third party having any incentive to cut costs, increase productivity or show an economic benefit for the expense. [Similar to the states' control of Medicaid enrollment while the Feds actually write the checks].  Explain how this all violates Econ 101, if they still teach that at Yale, but that Secretary Betsy DeVos has recently updated CollegeScorecard.ed.gov.  The site will now provide a little transparency and capitalism to the equation y giving prospective students information on how much their school's graduates are earning in their desired field, and how that equates to monthly pay along with the student loan payments.  Knowledge is power.  A good step by Betsy in the right direction.  And, don't let Elizabeth take our Charter Schools!
     Slide some extra cash to the young crowd to ensure they choose Uber and Lyft over drinking and driving this season.  But, warn them that California has now ruled these capitalist drivers can no longer be independent contractors in charge of their own destiny - along with your DoorDash girlfriend or the Amazon buddy who puts together the delivered furniture.  California wants more employment taxes from these overachievers, along with more workers comp and unemployment insurance payments.  Unions and scumbag plaintiff attorneys are behind this socialist campaign, as 5,730 wage-and-hour law complaints were filed last year in California alone.  These ingenious businesses will be gone overnight if the socialism spreads from the left coast and the National's ballpark.  Get up the courage to ask DoorDash Girl to marry you before you never see her again!
     When the family plans the Memorial Day trip to your brother-in-law's beach house in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, respectfully decline on the principle that others' tax dollars rebuilt this house after the last hurricane.  Have the integrity to not speak out of both sides of your mouth, and provide your family strong leadership-by-example.  Explain the situation with Loyola University Professor Walter Block's advice.  "The best policy is the middle one - laissez faire capitalism.  Treat people as adults - allow them to take whatever flooding risks they choose, but on their own nickel.  They should be free to build wherever they want, and to indemnify themselves against risk by buying insurance on the open market.  But they should not receive a dime of taxpayers' money for rebuilding."  We toast to that.
     Finally, honor Uncle Joe and Cousin Linda's, Korean War and Vietnam veterans respectively, requests to turn off the NFL and NBA games on the flat screen.  Uncle Joe gave up the NFL after the final "taking a knee" scandal, and Cousin Linda canceled her NBA Live subscription after the Houston Rockets-LeBron fiasco of not supporting the courageous Hong Kong citizens.
     But, give them a new idea.  Watch "Field of Dreams," and then make your proposal to let Pete Rose finally enter the Hall of Fame.  Rally their emotions for the game of a simpler time.  Charlie Hustle sprinting to first base even on a walk, playing hurt, knockdowns and spitballs, and sliding into bases hard.  Rose won 3 batting crowns, 3 World Series Championships, and had the most hits ever.  Ever.  As you watch "Shoeless Joe" Jackson hit balls with Kevin Costner, think about what Roger Lowenstein wrote about Rose.  "The sport misses the authenticity of his voice, and the Hall of Fame - barred to him on account of his banishment - can hardly be complete absent such an immense talent.  After 30 years, baseball should think about bringing him home." [Full disclosure, this author kept a poster of Pete Rose over his bed for 18 years in that Dayton, Ohio rancher and always wore number 14 in every little league contest].
     Happy Thanksgiving my friends.  I wish you and your families incredible happiness and prosperity.

"I didn't have no education." - Pete Rose, famous for his double negatives

** Thank you to the WSJ, Forbes and Fortune for the above quotes and statistics.

** 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 

* SUBSCRIBE TO JAM VIEWS

* PLEASE USE THE BELOW SHARE BUTTONS TO SPREAD THE WORD!

NOT ENOUGH INCOME INEQUALITY?
     Income inequality is another falsehood currently being pushed by politicians, and will be a household term for everyone by election day 2020.  Therefore, in our JAM VIEWS mission, let's understand the truth of income distribution today in the United States.
     As you are tired of hearing me chant, we must deal with the facts.  We must understand that all news is tainted, if not clearly false, and the great majority of "experts" truly are not, as this blog continually uncovers.  Once you understand the math, then you are permitted to scream for more redistribution, or to scream to take back more of your own money.  That is the great freedom of being an American.  All JAM VIEWS continually asks of us is to, first, understand the facts so that we may form an educated opinion for ourselves - not from someone else's sound bite.
     And another reminder, it is much more fun to hang around people with views much different than our own.  Vanilla is boring, and lack of growth is boring.  Seek out diversity in your friendships and associates.  Otherwise, you become that guy at the water cooler whom everyone already knows their opinion on everything.  Don't be predictable!
     Former Senator Phil Gramm and former Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, John Early, have released another report detailing the true economic distributions in the U.S., as of the end of 2017.  This week I thought I would attempt to summarize the current state of affairs from their report in order that you may be armed with some simple facts when Uncle Charlie and Aunt Vivian fly in from California for Thanksgiving dinner.
     The first roadblock for Americans attempting to understand income inequality is that the Administrative State's Census Bureau chooses to produce irrelevant household income numbers.  The Census Bureau claims that the top quintile (20% of earning households) has 17 times as much income as the bottom quintile, but they do not distribute the net number that you as a U.S. citizen are left with to spend however you see fit.  The Census Bureau does not calculate in the taxes you have to pay before you get your money, and it does not calculate in the redistribution public transfer payments to American households.
     For example, in the top 20% the numbers do not factor in that one-third of the income is first taken by the government in federal, state and local taxes, as this top 20% pays nearly 70% of all taxes for our country.  Wow, thank you for your service!  Also, the Census Bureau, inexplicably, fails to count the $1.9 trillion a year taken from higher quintiles and given to lower quintiles.  Again, thank you for your service!
     So you know, there are 95 federal programs, such as Medicaid and food stamps, along with dozens of state and local programs with which the Administrative State takes and gives.  40% of federal spending is allocated to these transfers, and this income provides nearly 90% of the bottom 20%'s resources, as well as more than 50% of the next 20%'s resources.  Still with me?
     At the beginning, there is actually a 60-1 disparity as the top 20% earns an average of $295,000, while the bottom 20% earns $4,900.  Then the bottom 20% receives $48,000 in transfer payments and pays out almost $3,000 in mostly sales taxes, ending with approximately $50,000 in net resources.  At the same time, the top 20% pays out an average of $109,000 in taxes leaving approximately $190,000 in net resources to spend as they see fit:  A true Income Inequality Ratio of 3.8 to 1.
     Interestingly, the average middle-income household receives nearly $18,000 in government transfers and pays the same $18,000 in taxes.  Also, the lower second 20% earns 500% more income than the lowest 20%, but nets only 9% more to spend as they see fit.  Not good.
     The concerning issue, if you recall our Behavioral Economics posts, is that Americans operate in a mostly logical fashion when it comes to work and earnings.  For instance, the anti-poverty spending of the last 50 years has raised most households into the middle class, yet has tempted many to stop working.  In 1967, 70% of prime working-age adults in the bottom 20% were employed, and now only 36% keep a job.  They are not being irrational, but logical.  I am even curious as to why the next 20%, and even the next 20%, still work.  It really doesn't make much sense.
     Last week, I wrapped up a six-week course teaching inmates job hunting skills and interview techniques.  As I sat down with each individual to complete their resume, a consistent answer was, "This doesn't matter. I'm just going to get a check."  I told them that I couldn't really argue with them.  "That sounds logical."
     Maybe you think 3.8 to 1 is too much income inequality in our country, or maybe you believe this is too much income equality which is killing economic incentive and mobility, but at least now you have the truth.  Vote as you see fit.  Have a great week!

"Choose a job that you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."  -  Confucius

** Thank you to WSJ, Forbes and Fortune for the above statistics, and most especially Senator Gramm and Mr. Early for their work.

** 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 

* SUBSCRIBE TO JAM VIEWS

* PLEASE USE THE BELOW SHARE BUTTONS TO SPREAD THE WORD!

ANTITRUST SMOKE SCREEN
     What is a smoke screen? It's a cover to hide what's really going on behind it.  We can likely label every government economic activity a smoke screen, as the true intentions are never what is sold to the taxpayer, and antitrust actions are simply the latest angle, reborn.  So, let's attempt to understand the truth, not the politics, and be able to understand the intentions behind the smoke screen.
     In more recent years, antitrust initiatives attempted to breakup Microsoft in 2000 when a federal judge ordered it split in two.  Bill Gates fought back aggressively, George W. Bush was elected, and the case was reversed on appeal with Microsoft paying a juicy settlement to the government.  Now with market forces, Microsoft's name is never mentioned as a monopolistic threat.
     In the '70's and '80's the government attempted for thirteen years to break up IBM.  IBM is now irrelevant in the big picture and recently spent a third of its market value to acquire Red Hat, praying that cloud services will save its future.  See a trend here?  See how markets take care of themselves if governments stay out?  And, Microsoft would have given us tremendously more innovation if Bill gates hadn't said, "Okay, if that's what you want, screw it.  I'll be over here trying to save the world with Melinda." [One day read about how the Gates Foundation's world impact, however remarkable, is a mere fraction of the poverty-killing, medicine-creating, economic growth his technology produced, and would have produced].
     Antitrust is the current tool used by liberals to work the masses into a froth to overthrow the King and redistribute the wealth.  Vive la France!  And, it's the tool for conservatives to attack Google's news algorithms and Twitter's bans on political speech.  It is simply the tool, one with, again, little economic credibility.
     The theme should be: Don't spend all of this money, energy, and political will rallying the public against successful companies.  Instead, spend all of this power helping the thousands of small businesses become big also.  Focus on abundance, instead of scarcity.
     Economically, antitrust activity has simply caused more harm than good.  Fortunately, since Robert Bork authored "The Antitrust Paradox" in 1978, most Administrations have focused not on the size of the company, but whether its actions harm consumers.  Antitrust scholar Joshua Wright wrote in 2016, "Economic analysis has more often than not trumped ideological politics for the past 35 years.  Let's keep it that way."  Barak Orbach, University of Arizona law professor and member of the American Antitrust Institute, states, "The energy for antitrust reforms is not in science and facts, but in accounts that can move public emotions."
     So, remember that when Elizabeth Warren publishes her 1,700-word blog post titled "Here's How We Can Break Up Big Tech," and Attorney General William Barr opens Department probes of Google and Apple while handing over Facebook and Amazon to Chairman Joe Simons of the Federal trade Commission (FTC), none of this has anything to do with protecting U.S. consumers and taxpayers.
     These are simply narratives to grab votes and extort huge sums of money from Main Street and Wall Street to give to Washington.  Congress and the Administrative State are deeply troubled that the European Union blackmails Google for $5 billion using the antitrust smoke screen of "unfair searches."  Google pays the $5 billion to keep playing the game.  U.S. politicians scream, "You can't do that to America's successful companies - at least until we get our slice/vig/taste/tax!"  The Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury props up Wall street with $4 trillion printed out of thin air, and then fines Bank America $17 billion for fraudulent mortgages.  It's all nonsense.  All a scam.  And our job is to, if we choose to keep playing the video game, at least not believe the narratives.
     The latest proposals call for Facebook to spinoff its previous Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions, and Amazon to spinoff Whole Foods and Zappos.  The FTC claims they have the power to review old mergers and have formed an antitrust task force for this purpose.  What happened to ex post facto?  How is this legal?  Does that matter?
     State attorney generals love a great blackmail - tobacco, opioids, vaping, big tech.  Why don't all of these extorted dollars get returned to taxpayers, whose money it is in the first place?  How can government agencies grab "forfeited" assets and fines and keep them for their own operations and kingdom building?  Are they appropriated the constitutional power to tax?
     In the Swamp, did you know that Attorney General Barr was previously General Counsel at Verizon Communications where he clashed with tech companies over net neutrality which prevented Verizon from charging users higher fees?  Barr also played a key role in reconsolidating the telecomm industry after the court-ordered breakup of AT&T, "thus protecting the Bell companies from the competition Congress intended," according to FCC lawyer Chris Wright.  Later Barr testified against the "grossly anticompetitive" tactics of cable companies who were shutting out the telecoms.  Life is really a James Bond 007 movie in which you truly never know who is working for whom - unless, of course, you follow the money.  Senator Elizabeth Warren, House Antitrust Subcommittee Chair David Cicilline, FTC Chair Joe Simons, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and U.S. Attorney General Barr will play whatever role you need, whatever angle fills your emotions, as long as you keep the dollars flowing.  Vive la France!
     Over 50 people in the Justice Department alone are working on tech antitrust cases.  Instead, give that tremendous amount of money to startup incubators and accelerators.  Makan Delrahim, Head of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, says more than a third of his current 100-plus open criminal investigations involve the government as the victim who gets the extortion money.  Take the budget for 100 investigations, and instead give it to Chambers of Commerces in Nebraska, Arkansas, and Ohio.  Do good, not harm.
     In 2016, 433,000 businesses were born in the U.S., but 400,000 died.  Help them.  In 2017, .26% of female adults created new businesses, .30% of African-Americans, and .50% of Latinos.  Spend the bulging budget not on fighting dragons, but on helping real people like these entrepreneurs.
       As a JAM VIEWS reader, you of course know the educated answer:  Keep your own tax dollars, unleash laissez faire free-market capitalism, and spend your own money for your own self-interests.  Maybe Microsoft and IBM will thrive, or maybe they won't.  Thousands of other innovations and miracles will be created and thrive.  Half the studies show the bulk of innovation is created inside large companies, while the other half always claim most new technology and services come from small companies.  Pure capitalism gives both.  Put on your face mask, and see through the smoke screens [A shout out to our courageous capitalist brothers in Hong Kong!]

p.s.  A grateful thank you this Veterans Day to our incredible men and women who serve and protect this great republic.  In honor of these heroes, JAM VIEWS asks that we all do everything we can to support our deployed troops and families, fix the Veterans Administration, and stop civilian U.S. attorneys prosecuting soldiers in war zones under constant threat from terrorists - it's a national disgrace.

"He who permits himself to tell a lie once finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells a lie without attending to it, and truths without the world believing it."  -  President Thomas Jefferson

** Thank you to the WSJ, Forbes, Fortune and Bloomberg for the above statistics and quotations.


** 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 

* SUBSCRIBE TO JAM VIEWS

* PLEASE USE THE BELOW SHARE BUTTONS TO SPREAD THE WORD!

EXECUTE vs. PLAN (& don't talk to Siri!)
     It's not the thinkers that change the world, but the doers.  You are only aware of the historically-great thinkers who were the ones that also wrote the book, built the organization, and failed at their first 1,000 experiments.  Our companies, schools and playgrounds are filled with brilliant, high-IQ individuals, yet 99.9% never reach their potential because no one ever teaches them how to execute.
     In our investment firm, I often declared, "I can go down the street to William & Mary and hire hundreds of MBA's who can create a financial plan or client service software.  They are a dime-a-dozen.  But, find me the 1% of A-Players who can wake up every morning and go get the money, and we can build an empire!"
     As a CEO, President of Big Brothers Big Sisters, or captain of the sports team, I have always been baffled by the great divergence of output from similarly-situated human beings on our teams.  It is not intelligence.  Is it nature or nurture?  Whatever the answer, we must commit to being the "Just Do It" leader, and we must only recruit these same people for our organizations [see Post, "The Right Type of Diversity: Harvard to Hairdressers"].
     Professor Wyatt Wells wrote what I believe to a be a hilarious article about the strategic planning exercise at Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM).  He recounts the "organizational ritual...took months...at considerable expense."  His observations confirm what all A-Players already know.  The B's and C's spend their weeks creating plans and policy, and telling everyone else what they should do - along with why they, themselves, are constrained from achieving their own ambitious objectives.  Remember, life is too short and precious to be hanging around these people.  Your place is not among them!
     AUM commits to "enhance morale among employees."  Tear that up, enroll your company team in the local Friday night softball league, take them to Harrigan's Pub after, and you will see enhanced morale.
     AUM commits to "enhance a culture of scholars."  Erase that, and become the leader with the most trade licenses and industry accreditations, and be "the smartest one in the room."  Your entire organization will follow and duplicate your achievements without you ever uttering a word of guidance.
     AUM also commits to adopting "national advising best practices standards and diversity learning outcomes."  I must not be bright enough to understand what the hell that one means!  With today's fast pace, 5-year plans are a joke, 3-year plans are a waste of time, and 1-year strategies may be partially accurate [see Post, "Extraordinary Organizations"].  Professor Wells concludes from his experience that "strategic planning, the way it's practiced by most institutions in the U.S., is a fraud...offers incompetent managers a shield...and at its best, it's little more than a public-relations exercise."
     So, how do we not follow the masses, and instead find High-Executioners and build special organizations?:

1.  High-Executioners many times have backgrounds focused on achievement in sports, top academics and development goals, such as Eagle Scout.  The child who committed to practicing fundamentals, who hit the pool before and after school, now as an adult doesn't know any other way than to do whatever it takes to reach their goal.  Remember those kids with wet hair in high school?  Go look them up now.

2.  Massive organization and time management are non-negotiable requirements for High-Executioners, and for anyone they choose to partner with.  They refuse to suffer disorganized underachievers.  They make tomorrow's task list before closing the books on today.  They implement every new technology for efficiency.  If the task list turns red when past due for them, their assistant, or their boss, it drives them crazy!

3.  High-Executioners stand out like a super nova among the masses at work, at the gym, or at the Susan G. Komen Pink Meeting.  Unfortunately, most people that do not produce at the office, don't get involved in their community, and literally just sleepwalk through the day.  All circles of life are interwoven - work, health, relationships, spiritual.  High-Executioners burn it down in all circles.  The work-a-holic excuse is a myth propagated by B's and C's to rationalize their lack of desire to also coach the little league team, or follow a healthy discipline.

     Work everyday to raise your level of execution, and do everything you can to recruit these rare individuals to your mission.  Leave the strategic plans to the B's and C's.  They love that stuff!

p.s.  Section 215 of the Patriotic Act, which authorizes the U.S. intelligence services to access your health records, DNA tests, and conversations on Alexa and Siri, expires or is reauthorized on December 15th.  You likely remember James Clapped, Director of National Intelligence, testifying to Congress that they were NOT collecting the telephone-call metadata, including phone numbers and the time, duration and details of calls and texts of hundreds of millions of Americans - until it was discovered they were.
     According to U.S. Congressman Buck McKeon, "Even after legislation was passed in 2015 to rein in the program, the agencies were ultimately forced to suspend the call-detail-record program last year, when they realized it was collecting far more data than they could handle and was violating even their own expansive view of their authority."  Wow.
     Just giving you the facts.  What you do with them is up to you, High-Executioner.

"Good managers can usually list their goals on a note card and explain how they intend to achieve them on a few sheets of paper."  -  Prof. Wyatt Wells, Auburn University at Montgomery

**  Many thanks to the WSJ, Forbes and Fortune for the above quotes and statistics.

** 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 

* SUBSCRIBE TO JAM VIEWS

* PLEASE USE THE BELOW SHARE BUTTONS TO SPREAD THE WORD!

DUMB RESEARCH WITH YOUR MONEY
     Where in the Constitution of the United States is it written that Mrs. Johnson, a hardworking maternity ward nurse at Riverside Hospital, must pay a significant slice of every paycheck to federal taxes which are redistributed to a wealthy university, or one of the thousands of "institutions," to pay for some academic's research study?     If Mrs. Johnson was ever able to stop working long enough to review how her money was being spent, I believe it wouldn't be so pleasant in the newborns nursery.
     It is unconstitutional to take Mrs. Johnson's money for these academic adventures, and a great number of these studies are nonsensical research with pre-determined, confirmation-bias results which a fifth-grader could have told us, while saving us millions of dollars.
     For example, last week Michael Kremer, Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee were awarded the Nobel Prize in economics for their ground-breaking economic studies.  Profs. Duflo and Banerjee, who are married to each other and teach at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) traveled to India and conducted an experiment to compare changes in child immunization rates in several villages.  David Harrison and Paul Hannon for the Wall Street Journal reported, "In some villages, the researchers offered families a bag of lentils and a set of metal plates to encourage them to immunize their children.  Children in those villages were more than six time as likely to be immunized, they found."
     This is brilliant!  We discovered that poor people will show up if we bribe them with food and silverware.  I know guys that will go to Wal-Mart when they know the lady who passes out free samples is on duty, and that weekend Buffalo Wild Wings had the buy-one-beer-get-the-next-one-free promotion I think we watched 22 football games in a row!
     Harvard Professor Kremer traveled to Kenya and "found that children treated for intestinal worms are more likely to attend school and work in higher-paying occupations than those who weren't treated because of funding limitations, making it cost-effective for governments to fund mass-deworming campaigns."  So, not only did we have a Captain Obvious moment to understand that children who receive better medical care will attend school more frequently, but we even have attempted to document a study in order that one special interest group, or dare say the dewormer pharmaceutical company, can pursue their end objective of more government funding.
     Now, remember last year's Post, "The Government Has No Money," to know that when I say "government funding," there actually is no such thing.  There is just Bob, Susan, Marge and Mrs. Johnson funding.  Do you feel good about Harvard and MIT taking your tax dollars to send these academics on adventures which you will never get to experience, yourself?  Also remember that in our recent Post, "Harvard's Discrimination Keeps Going," that even with a gazillion-dollar endowment, Harvard still chooses to take your tax dollars for these "studies," and then the Nobel Prize Committee actually reinforces this ridiculousness.  This is the elitist, academia, deep state stuff that makes "fly-over-country" taxpayers lose their minds as they struggle to pay their own bills.
     For fun let's review a few other federally-funded studies.  Senator Tom Coburn has compiled an annual waste and abuse list, titled "Wastebook," and Derek Draplin at the University of Michigan created "The College Fix."  A few on their lists:

1.  The National Science Foundation (your money) awarded Professor Terrie Williams of the University of California - Santa Cruz $856,000 for testing mountain lions on treadmills.  The study concluded that "mountain lions do not have the aerobic capacity for sustained, high-energy activity."  Rather, "they are power animals...who use a burst of speed and the force of the pounce to knock down or overpower their prey."  Didn't I learn that on an episode of "Gunsmoke?"

2.  The National Science Foundation also funded the University of Rochester study of the gambling habits of monkeys.  It was concluded that the monkeys, just like my Vegas golf trip buddies, continued to ignore random scenarios and "make choices as if they expected a streak.  The monkeys showed the hot-hand bias consistently over weeks of play."  I can't tell you how many times we had to scream at Kevin to get up from the blackjack table.  "Now cash in your chips before you lose it all again!"

3.  One more from our favorite National Science Foundation (remember, your money).  The Foundation funded Columbia University $5.2 million to create an interactive game aimed at engaging people to get involved in climate change activism.  They created Future Coast, "a collaborative game set in an alternative world where fictional voicemails have been transported back in time.  One message describes sunny 75 degree weather in Antarctica compared to a chilly -2 degrees in Arizona with expected hailstorms."  I am not making this up!

     The federal government collects approximately $4.5 trillion each year from all of us and redistributes it like this, and the polls claim that over half the country is okay with raising taxes and giving them more!  What is the definition of insanity?
     For decades I have been shocked at the absurdity of these farces presented as research studies in academia, and hopefully now that you are aware, you are too.  Do everything in your power to stop giving technocrats your money, government and academic.  They have no capitalistic bottom line, no consumer need to satisfy, no competition to sharpen the saw of efficiency, and no constitutional right to use your money.  Their adventures weaken your lifestyle, your security and retirement, and your pursuit of happiness.
     Be educated.  Understand what is really going on with your money.  Choose not to be a pawn.  The Nobel Prize Committee might not take you out for champagne brunch, but it would have been on your tab, anyways.  Stay diligent!

"The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement.  The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow."  -  Ingvar Kamprad

** Thank you to the WSJ, Forbes, Fortune, Wastebook, & The College Fix.

** 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 

* SUBSCRIBE TO JAM VIEWS

* PLEASE USE THE BELOW SHARE BUTTONS TO SPREAD THE WORD!

WHY WE NEVER MAKE 10%!
     As you may have seen recently during the 917 commercials interspersed with a few moments of football (my attention span just can't sit through that many commercials anymore!), Schwab finally just cut their trade commissions to zero.  E-Trade quickly followed, along with TD Ameritrade, and Fidelity rolled out their zero expense ration mutual funds.
     This prompted a few requests for JAM VIEWS to delve deeper into uncovering why real people, you and I, over the long-term never make the rates of returns advertized in the latest Wall street book, or espoused by Jim in Receivables who always lies about his 401k performance.
     First, realize that trading commissions only make up about 7-12% of these institutions' top line revenue, so we don't need to fret over their future success.  After running a Broker-Dealer (B/D) and Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) for two decades, I can tell you that the company makes money in twenty different ways aside from the client commissions.  But, this week let's focus on why these commission prices are just one of the shiny objects which distract us from achieving long-term wealth.  A quick list of more fundamentals below:

1.  INDEX FUNDS VS. ACTIVE FUNDS?  Bottom line is that it doesn't matter.  Index funds buy or track a fixed basket of stocks or other investments, while active funds are daily operated by a manager or team of managers who make specific decisions on what to buy or sell.  Generally, active funds will charge a .5% to 1% higher expense ratio because there are actual managers.  Recently, for an extended period, index funds have outperformed active funds, so the marketers and the media now promote this as a historical truism.  This is usually the point when the cycle reverses, as this one will also.  They always do.  Joel Greenblatt of Gotham Asset Management, a very successful hedge and mutual fund advisor, states, "Warren Buffet says most people should index, and I agree with him.  But Warren Buffet doesn't index, and neither do I."  The answer for us is to buy both.  Buy the index funds which are appropriate for your long-term goals, and buy high-quality, experienced managers who have weathered many different cycles.

2.  BUY STOCKS, BONDS, MUTUAL FUNDS, HEDGE FUNDS, EFTs, INDEXES, FUTURES, OR COMMODITIES?  Bottom line is that we should buy a little bit of everything.  In our investment firm, we preached thirteen (13) slices of the pie as a minimal blend to smooth out a client's performance chart, so they didn't hurt themselves (covered later).  The simple key is to own a big basket of different investments which are aligned with your mission, yet which likely perform well (and poorly) at different times.  In your Statistics 101 Course they labeled things that moved in tandem as having a correlation of 1.0, and things that moved opposite of each other as having a correlation of -1.0.  You want your basket to, as closely as possible, have a correlation of 0.00.  You want some things to be "zigging" while others are "zagging."  Again, for most of us the answer is to access all of these categories through mutual funds, ETFs or Indexes, since we don't have the money, expertise or time to buy all of the individual stocks or bonds.

3.  BUY GROWTH OR VALUE, LARGE-MID-SMALL CAP, CORPORATE OR GOVERNMENT BONDS, DOMESTIC OR INTERNATIONAL?  Bottom line here is to invest in each style and sector.  You, or the smartest managers and computers, will never predict what is going to be the hot spot next year.  As in #2, take a little slice of each, and you will be light-years ahead of your neighbors.  Remember, just when every singe advisor on CNBC and CNN says that Value Investing is dead, these funds will begin to outperform growth funds.

4.  AMAZON'S LAST MILE?  Have you followed how even mighty Amazon has struggled with the most efficient and effective logistics answer to get those Tory Burch shoes to your front door step?  They offered employees to buy truck routes, are testing automated trucks, and of course those drones.  Investing has the same problem.  All of the above strategies, plus a million more, never work for us real humans, because we are human.
     The television commercials and the ads in Forbes, Fortune and the Wall Street Journal are simply marketing strategies to gather dollars, trillions of dollars.  They never help real people master Behavioral Economics.  If you want to build wealth long-term, you must understand this.  Everyone, and I mean everyone, buys high and sells low, especially Jim in Receivables - he just won't show you the real truth.  Warren Buffet for many decades averaged 21% a year, double the average of the stock market, by simply buying good investments at fair values and holding them forever.
     Joel Greenblatt again states, "When people can check their returns 30 times a minute on the internet, time horizons shrink, investors are impatient and sell at any sign of underperformance."  The truth is that Jim in Receivables always does much worse than Susan in Shipping who never checked her 401k until a week before retirement.
     Behavioral economics studies the effects of psychological, cognitive, emotional, cultural and social factors on the economic decisions of individuals and institutions.  Economist Richard Thaler was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences of "establishing that people are predictably irrational in ways that defy economic theory."  Robert Shiller, winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in economics, claims "the central issue in behavioral finance is explaining why market participants make irrational systematic errors contrary to the assumptions of rational market participants."

     I know it sounds complicated, a lot to understand, but as with so many other topics we dissect in JAM VIEWS, successful long-term investing is much simpler than the world makes it out to be.  Schwab's zero fees marketing is BS.  Vanguard's 40-year war claiming .5% less fees were the Holy Grail didn't' make one real person one more dollar.  More importantly, in October 1987, in 2000, and in 2008 Vanguard's .5% less fee didn't stop one American citizen from selling out their 401k after the market dropped 50%, and didn't ensure they were fully invested when the markets recovered up another 100%.
     Don't be distracted by the shiny objects.  Do opposite of what feels good.  Understand that these cycles many times last for years.  Just as I try to always talk you into first doing your own taxes, first understand the long-term investing basics.  Then, if you want some help and oversight, get yourself a partner who doesn't follow the noise.
     Have a great week!

ps.  Did you see that CNBC hedge fund guru, Jim Cramer, has now joined Bull Market Fantasy to provide "expert opinion and advice on Fantasy Football with a Wall street twist?"  Need I say more?

pss.  Secret -  Schwab makes 60% of its total revenue by simply sweeping cash nightly from customers' brokerage accounts into the firms' banking accounts.

"Humans make 95% of their decisions using mental shortcuts or rules of thumb - heuristics."  -  Daniel Kahneman.

** Thank you to the WSJ, Forbes and Fortune for their above quotes, statistics and advertisements.

** The above is not investment, tax or legal advice.  Consult your advisors

** 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 

* SUBSCRIBE TO JAM VIEWS

* PLEASE USE THE BELOW SHARE BUTTONS TO SPREAD THE WORD!