Money big and small: The seen and the unseen

Economic activity, on “Main Street” and in commercial real estate (CRE) sectors, slowed to a crawl. Investors and business owners sense too much uncertainty in national and regional policies. Tariffs, trade wars, inflation and dollar devaluation, government shutdown, violence in the cities, open insurrection against federal agencies like ICE — the list adds to a feeling of uncertainty and perhaps even danger.

Business activity, markets, and on a much longer scale whole nations cycle back and forth, up and down. There are no straight lines in nature, only curves and shapes. In a similar vein, economic cycles ebb and flow. Reading those cycles is art, in harmony with logic and historical awareness. What happens today will change. With change comes opportunity. Stay balanced and adaptable.

This is the Seen.

Straight lines do exist — not in nature, but through the rational thought process. The world of thought is just as real as the physical world. It is perceived — just not with the five senses, but with the mind and intellect using rational thought process. By definition, rational thought removes chaos and puts it in order.

This is the Unseen.

To think rationally and logically, mankind establishes a baseline, then a foundation. That baseline is a principle. It is a concept from which our understanding springs. A foundation is erected from that principle. From the foundation is constructed an edifice, a concept, a nation, a philosophy, a religion, a way to live.

Our nation was formed on a principle that originated with our Creator. That principle is the sanctity of the individual, the divine notion of our Creator’s vision: that each individual has a divine purpose, and that individual, therefore, has certain rights, responsibilities, and privileges bestowed by our Creator. These rights — immutable, endless — were codified in the Declaration of Independence as a right to life, liberty, and ownership. This is the principle that formed our nation.

The Constitution was built thereafter to protect the deeper principle of the individual. The Constitution does one thing: It limits government. It is the ultimate Rule of Law. Sadly, certain government actions today do not adhere to the limits imposed by the Constitution.

Examples abound that government actions are not restrained by those few powers granted government under the Constitution. Rather, our government has overflowed the river banks formed by the Constitution and is flooding our individual rights to liberty and ownership. What do you really own when your government can constantly take it away from you? What liberty or freedom to choose do you have when an unelected bureaucrat can effectively pass a law limiting your choices?

Prosperity is attainable — if the politicians and bureaucrats stop trying to solve problems with federal intervention in private business. Every dollar the government spends “helping” is a dollar taken from a taxpayer’s pocket. Every dollar borrowed, so the government can spend it, takes from current and future prosperity. Every salary paid to any federal employee comes from the taxpayer. Every time a regulatory agency issues an edict, it infringes on the individual and his business.

Prosperity is attainable but requires free markets, capitalism, and individual choice. And that requires constitutionally limited government.

Jay Davidson is founder and CEO of a commercial bank. He is a student of the Austrian School of Economics and a dedicated capitalist. He believes there is a direct connection joining individual right and responsibility, our Constitution, capitalism, and the intent of our Creator.

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