One-off or a larger trend?

An article calling churches to support businesses during the pandemic time reinforces the importance of the private sector. The writer made a short list of things churches could do.

An observation: Will we see a larger shift from church gathered (come to church and experience our programs) to church scattered (church members go into the world to have an impact)? Or will there be a balance in emphasis? Or will we restore the model of getting people into the building?

Business people certainly need affirmation from their churches. For example, most churches recognize someone going into the mission field, they will likely recognize teachers at the start of the school year. However, how many will recognize the real estate agents, business managers, trades people, etc. in their congregations?

Are periods passé?

English teachers take note: Periods are passé. Will it eventually seep into more formal writing? Right now, it applies to texting. I assume it won't get into more formal writing because punctuation signals what to expect in more complex sentence structures.

Shut them down or let them open?

An article about COVID-19 shutdown policies considers the economic impact and what to do about it. 

Bottom line: 

•  "...the evidence suggests lockdowns were an overly blunt and economically costly tool." 
• "The evidence also points to alternative strategies that could slow the spread of the epidemic at much less cost." Let the second guessing begin.

Assertions in the story:

• "The economic pain from pandemics mostly comes not from sick people but from healthy people trying not to get sick: consumers and workers who stay home, and businesses that rearrange or suspend production."
• "...many epidemiologists and economists say the economy can’t recover while the virus is out of control."
• There continue to be questions about "what represents an acceptable level of infection, which in turn determines what restrictions to impose."
• "...at the outset, their [experts and policy makers] goals were unclear, a confusion aggravated by the multitude of terms used."

Alternatives proposed: "Rather than lockdowns, using only those measures proven to maximize lives saves while minimizing economic and social disruption."

• "Social distancing policies, for instance, can take into account widely varying risks by age."
• "Research...has shown that 'super-spreader' events contribute disproportionately to infections."
• "Masks may be the most cost-effective intervention of all."
• "...ramped-up testing could enable the economy to reopen safely without a vaccine."

The rest of the article has information about the decision-making regarding shutting things down or staying open.

One possible outcome of sending workers home that comes to mind: Labor may become more mobile, and I would advocate that. Just as digitization let information bypass older distribution systems, e.g., on demand streaming from numerous sources versus scheduled programming of the big 3 networks. More mobile labor could mean greater competition for their services, which means potential for wage increases and better working climates/organization cultures.

Aviation/drone tech global career expo for young people: Call for speakers and sponsorship opportunities

I'm helping Kids Drone Zone find speakers and sponsors for a global virtual career expo scheduled for October 24-26.

Would someone be interested in a speaking role and in investing in their future?

 

The focus will be career paths in aviation and unmanned systems as well as the associated technologies and other fields. The audience will be middle and high school students who are interested in learning more about career paths in those fields.

 

Call for speakers:

• We're inviting speakers to present on some career topic (career fields related to aviation and drone tech, education/career paths into the industry, industry trends, etc.)? The duration would be an hour (presentation + Q&A).
• Because it's virtual, speakers won't have to travel. Also, the event will run 24 hours a day to accommodate the time zones of all the young people and make it possible to have speakers from different countries.
• There are also four keynote opportunities.

 

To invest in these young people's futures, the sponsorship opportunities defray the direct costs of the event to ensure young people can attend for free. They will be attending virtually from around the world.

 

Some background: Kids Drone Zone has been preparing young people for STEAM careers since 2015 through aviation/drone tech camps, commercial drone license training, and a film festival. The global expo is the latest undertaking to promote workforce readiness.

 

I'd be happy to chat with you about the event or connect you with the global expo leader. Contact Leroy Hurt at LeroyHurt@hotmail.com for details.

Experts on a US economic recovery

An article reported what experts said about what to expect regarding an economic recovery.

Bottom line: "...experts still think that even if things are starting to look up now, we shouldn’t assume we’ll be back to normal anytime soon. In fact, economists think there are still significant economic risks despite the tentative rebound, including a second wave of COVID-19, an unwillingness to spend from consumers and an absence of an additional fiscal stimulus from Congress."

Key points:

• They expect "a steep drop followed by a quick partial recovery and a longer period of slower, mixed growth."
• It seems "unlikely (33 percent probability) that GDP will creep back up to where it was in the fourth quarter of 2019 any time before the first half of 2022."

Takeaway: "The economists in our survey think the economy has a long way to go before it returns to normal.."

AI actors, animation, and pandemics

An article about a decision to use an AI-created actor should give human actors pause. The quality of animation and CGI is such that I wouldn't be surprised if this approach becomes quite mainstream as a way around the constraints of the pandemic.

Assessment of financial institutions: BlackRock

A website that is probably no fan of large financial institutions and their linkages with government described BlackRock's influence.

Important points:

• "BlackRock has been called 'the most powerful institution in the financial system,' 'the most powerful company in the world' and the 'secret power.'" 
• "It is the world’s largest asset manager and 'shadow bank,' larger than the world’s largest bank (which is in China), with over $7 trillion in assets under direct management  and another $20 trillion managed through its Aladdin risk-monitoring software."
• "Despite its size and global power, BlackRock is not even regulated as a 'Systemically Important Financial Institution' under the Dodd-Frank Act,"
• "BlackRock really made its fortunes, however, in 'exchange traded funds' (ETFs)."
• "...while ETFs are very liquid, trading on demand like stocks, the assets that make up their portfolios are not. When the market drops and investors flee, the ETFs can have trouble coming up with the funds to settle up without trading at a deep discount."
• "BlackRock got a bailout with no debate in Congress, no “penalty” interest rate of the sort imposed on states and cities borrowing in the Fed’s Municipal Liquidity Facility, no complicated paperwork or waiting in line for scarce Small Business Administration loans, no strings attached. It just quietly bailed itself out."

The article's conclusion is provocative: "If the corporate oligarchs are too big and strategically important to be broken up under the antitrust laws, rather than bailing them out they should be nationalized and put directly into the service of the public."