As the pandemic starts to dissipate, businesses will open and individuals will come out of hibernation, but our world will be forever changed. Time at home has allowed for self-reflection. New behaviors will be adopted by individuals and businesses alike.
Our team has been through a lot of market events in the last 20 years and each time feels like a punch to the face. The Coronavirus and Oil shock have delivered two of these punches in succession. It is very difficult to look past the headlines of the day to see that this too shall pass and that we will, at some point in the future, return to normal.
This past week has been a difficult week from a headline news perspective. We realize the coverage of the Coronavirus has been disconcerting both from an economic perspective but also from a human point of view. We all hate uncertainty.
2019 turned out to be a fantastic year in markets but it didn’t feel that way. Why was this the case? How about the US China trade war; the slowest global economic growth since the Great Recession; the never-ending saga known as Brexit; and a U.S. president facing impeachment and an election.
We came across a book recently called, I’m Right and You’re an Idiot, written by James Hoggan. It seemed like just another humorous title fighting for shelf space until we thought a bit more about its insights on the state of public discourse.