Nov 4
My father and I recently visited Israel for several days and it was fabulous. I would highly encourage anyone, regardless of your faith background to go at least once in your lifetime. This is a video of a client workshop I gave upon returning. The emphasis is on the free market and capitalist principles you can find almost anywhere if you look. Enjoy.
Aug 15
I saw this video in a blog post from a social media consultant I follow, Bill Seaver . For him it was a “video of the week,” but as I watched I realized there was a bigger lesson here. Entrepreneurism is by definition taking risks. The young men in this video could be from Europe, the south side of Chicago, Singapore or Cool Springs. But, wherever they are, they’ve obviously spent HOURS practicing and I’m certain they’ve totally flamed out a time or two. And yet they keep going. This is why my faith in capitalism is so unshakeable. Wherever there is freedom, people will be taking risks with new products, new ideas, new sports in search of fame and fortune. Will some ideas fail? Absolutely. But many will succeed, and they in turn will spin off newer products and services. And the tide rises for all of us. I salute these brave men. I’d say the future of the free markets worldwide is in good hands – let’s just make sure they have the economic freedom to experiment.
Like the age old “genetics versus environment” debate in raising children it can be tough to isolate just how people come to believe that capitalism is a better engine of success than socialism. Education will certainly play a role, particularly if you are using the public school system. But this week I was reminded just how important it is to get the next generation around businessmen and women, entrepreneurs, visionaries etc. They can provide that critical spark needed to ignite the flames of an idea.
This week I took my sons, Justin and Jordan, to a couple of morning business breakfasts and then a workshop on delivering outstanding client service. One of the men at breakfast was Tom Kunz, past CEO of Century 21 Real Estate LLC, and another was Mark Boersma, an author, speaker and president of Synergy Solutions, an international consulting firm. Just listening at the table to a group of passionate entrepreneurs share ideas and insights was all it took for them to expand their own vision of what was possible for a couple of 15 year olds. How many teenagers do you know who talk about development groups or scalability around the house? I bet it’s a pretty short list.
If you have found yourself frustrated with the direction of our nation and the youth, then commit to being a part of the solution – take time to immerse or introduce your own child in the wonderful miracle that is capitalism.
Today was Cindy’s “personal” day in the Barnard household. A prerequisite to this working is minimizing interruptions from our children. Since school starts back up in a couple of weeks I packed the gang into the van and headed out in search of backpacks, supplies and the like. If you also have school age children I’m sure you are well aware that capitalism is alive and well in your area. The streets and parking lots were chock full of willing buyers eager to act in their self-interest by exchanging dollars with willing sellers equally eager to to do the same. Both parties would consider this situation a WIN. I didn’t have to make a backpack and Kohl’s doesn’t have to disappoint their shareholders (of which you are one if you’re a client of ours.)
However, the most shining example of the effectiveness and efficiency of capitalism I stumbled upon today was literally in my own backyard (specifically the backyard of my office.) I work across the street from Nissan’s Americas headquarters complex, a gorgeous building and grounds and a welcome addition to our community. They were having a “Z car” show in their front lawn with what looked like 200 or more vintage and current models of the many Z variants. Having two teen age sons and coming of age myself during the introduction of the 240Z eons ago we detoured in to check them out. What the many car owners (and Nissan, then Datsun) had done with the basic prototype 240 Z was a great illustration of the concept of “mutating technology,” which simply recognizes that two separate ideas can be combined or modified in different ways from their creators original intent to creat something new. There were race versions, stock restorations, flashy paint jobs etc. If you’re a fellow Z-fan check out the link to the show. http://www.zcon2010.com/index.htm
If that weren’t enough of a reminder of the power of the free market, I found myself reflecting on the situation of Nissan itself. Nissan, a Japanese corporation, (which you also own) has as its CEO a capable man named Carlos Ghosn. A Frenchman, he was born in Brazil of French and Lebanese parents. They build a headquarters complex in Franklin, Tennessee, and hundreds of American Z car enthusiasts are there wandering around like me enjoying the sites. All because everyone is seeking to maximize value.
Sure there are plenty of things going on in business and our society today to complain about, but I was once again reassured that “capitalism finds a way.” I encourage you to look around and find your own examples – they are out there!
Mar 28
I was catching up on some professional reading over the weekend and ran across an article in Financial Planning magazine about a new Registered Investment Advisory firm charging a low, flat fee for access to institutional share class mutual funds (along with some other stuff.) Their value proposition was based on the premise investors are overpaying hidden fees by using retail share class mutual funds, and I quite agree. However they stop there and simply say the way to success is by paying lower fees, but still investing the same way. If the problem were only fees, the research DALBAR provides on investor performance each year would have much tighter spreads (say, 1/2 – 1%) than their research suggests. However, the 20 year equity returns typically average in the neighborhood of 10% (still), but investors typically average 3%. That is not just a function of paying a few extra basis points here and there in a particular fund – it is a function of clients being allowed to self-destruct by market timing, chasing performance of a hot manager etc. Just because you can self-destruct at a discount is NO BARGAIN in my opinion. Should you seek to reduce costs in your portfolio, absolutely. But don’t ever deceive yourself into thinking that’s where the war is won or lost. It is in the disciplined, unemotional execution of a well conceived investment strategy that is the key to long term success.