So, here we are, well into 2014. This is a good time, I think, to clue you in on some of the things I’ve been thinking about as we survey the next 12 months.
Recession redux?
I got a call recent from a friend who’s close to the Fed. The scuttlebutt there, he says, is that we’re about to go into another recession.
That may very well be true. When I consider the number of people still unemployed or under-employed – plus interest rates that are practically guaranteed to rise and a consumer that’s keeping a tight grip on the purse strings – I think there’s a good case to be made for this somber outlook.
We may not be able to stop it, but in South Florida we still have about four years of solid growth in the pipeline due to ongoing residential construction. We have got to get the new residential projects up and sold quickly.
Health care
Health care “reform” was supposed to help the uninsured. From what I can see, it’s not helping anybody. People are being moved from small employer plans onto the government plan, and young people are not signing up in the numbers that were expected – quite possibly because they don’t have a job to pay the premiums.
We’re going to have a huge funding gap here – to be filled, of course, by the taxpayer. I say it’s time we get serious about fixing this broken system – or step away and not do it at all.
Jobs and Washington
Speaking of jobs, Florida has been leading the nation in job growth, but we need more than service-level employment. We need a lot more well-paying, high-tech opportunities. We need angel investors to back the good ideas. Heck, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos went to school in Southeast Florida, and there are more Jeff Bezos’ waiting in the wings.
We need to make South Florida the epicenter of career growth in the 21st century, but we’ll never get this done as long has Washington has its head up you-know-where. Our politicians need to be reminded to set aside politics and get to work in the interest of the people.
Real estate
Where are the jobs in real estate? I get that question a lot. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure. Retail is contracting, new office development is iffy, and there’s practically no more urban land in Southeast Florida to sell.
That brings us to the capital side, where I work. Here, you can really get ahead if you’re smart, creative, and work hard. You’ll need a solid mentor, and I’m working with the University of Florida to help create those mentoring opportunities. Interested? E-mail me at jim@friedonbusiness.com or send a tweet to @friedonbusiness on Twitter.
Click here to listen to my full monologue on these issues.
