What do I think the next four years will be like with the Rodeo Clown in the next four years? 🤡

Entertaining in a somewhat cringe worthy way.

Truth is that I don’t own a color television and don’t pay much attention to the news these days. Outside of the weather it’s not obvious what benefit there is to watching the news outside of getting really angry and learning about the latest consumer products out there to buy.

I think the threat and promise of a second Trump Presidency will be overblown. In many cases, Trump will be rebuffed by institutions, other politicians, and the public – especially if he takes unpopular measures. A four year time period goes by remarkably quickly these days, and policies can be upended and changed depending on popular will and whomever is elected in four years.

At some point there will be a market correction, though I generally believe politicians care about their jobs and know how much money is tied up in the market and will take steps to stop the bleeding. I also think the American economy is so big and diversified that such a downfall while painful in the short term won’t last. Might help slow the rise of prices and mean some good buys in the markets. Plus I still have 13 years until retirement.

I think climate change will really start to bite harder into our every day life. It’s already starting to mess up the entire insurance market, with car and home insurance skyrocketing. It could further boost the housing crisis, as more people loose their homes from natural disasters. That said, I’m not sure if climate change deserves all the blame, or if it’s bad policies executed at local and state level that encourage housing development in all the wrong locations – areas that are flood or fire prone – and building patterns that concentrate water flows that ultimately make it easier for an area to flood.

On the other hand, am I convinced that there will be massive action on climate change? Not really, even if we should be doing something. Adaption will occur as people and institutions are lost adverse, and technology will march on. I think solar and wind will continue to expand, not just in blue states, but because it’s a cheap form of energy to build out on a per unit basis. We need cheap, peaking power these days, not baseload energy like coal and nuclear. Probably more gas plants will be built too, under the auspices of interim, which will be determintal to climate goals.

All and all, I am not that worried about the next four years. Maybe we would have made more progress under a Harris administration, but Trump will be good on the second amendment, and somebody has to lead our country. Maybe not my first choice, but we have to live with whomever was chosen by the voters.