The business cycle is shifting, and the transition is occurring now. Accordingly, we all need to shift our thinking in anticipation of where the business cycle is taking us.
Tariffs, taxes, and politics have dominated the economic news for months. These factors certainly can’t be ignored, and we will cover them during our webinar. We will take a hard look at what the tariffs, taxes, and political changes mean for the economy.
However, never forget that the consumer ultimately underpins our economy. There are already visible trends forewarning of change in consumer activity for 2019 and likely into 2020. We will discuss what they are and what they mean for you.
Additionally, leading indicators have a lot to tell us about 2019; we will examine some of the key inputs. These, combined with the consumer road signs, will provide a compelling picture of what we can expect for 2019-2020. Some markets will wane in the year ahead; others will gain. Knowing what is going where is key to understanding the economic symphony of 2019-2020.
We are all coming under intense profit pressures stemming from labor shortages and higher material costs. There should be some abatement in 2019, but these challenges aren’t going away and will return with a flourish in the next business cycle. We will look at some prudent ITR Management Objectives™ aimed at maximizing profits in a situation that could be accurately described as “profitless prosperity”.
Brian & Alan Beaulieu
CEO and President of ITR Economics