“Hilton Head is a brand and every brand’s value is either rising or falling.”
The founding fathers of Hilton Head Island, including Charles Fraser, have left us with not only a heritage, but also a mission to fulfll. Hilton Head was conceived as a high-quality resort destination where nature and civilization would co-exist in harmony.
What sets us apart as a planned community is our limited space due to our natural geographic boundaries, and the fact that we are one of the largest barrier islands on the East Coast. Limited space means there are only a pre-planned number of dwellings that can ever be built in our town. Being a barrier island means our natural surroundings provide a special allure.
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“Now is the best time to invest in our future.”
It’s all good and fine to declare that the recession is over (if you missed my June column, you can find it at www.hiltonheadmonthly.com) or to tell the president of the United States that he should make energy independence the No. 1 priority ( July issue). But for most of us, these more generalized topics have very little immediate impact on our daily lives; after all, we own property in the Lowcountry and we do business right here. Therefore, this month’s focus is on our home turf.
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Dear Mr. President,
As we prepare to commemorate the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, it is an opportune moment to reflect on what the spiritual essence of this nation is: To be independent!
If being independent was so important in forming the United States of America, and has guided us well for more than two centuries, why have we given up on making this a top priority?
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Predicting economic downturns and upswings is more an art form than an exact science. In my view, there are two important factors when making economic predictions: the facts (traceable economic data) and emotions (how we feel often dictates our future economic behavior).
Readers of my column seem to like it when I take a positive view of the world. So today I’m going on the offense by declaring that the recession is over! (I expect the National Bureau of Economic Research to officially say that the recession will be over this summer…and since it usually lags about 18 months behind, we’ll have some time to find out if I was right).
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Capitalism is a social system based on the recognition of individual rights, in which all property is privately owned. Under capitalism the state is separate from economics, just as the state is separate from religion.
My roommate during my boarding school years was the great-grandson of the founder of Germany’s most famous private banking family. I vividly remember our night-long debates over communism versus capitalism. It was a popular topic during the Cold War years. He would favor communism and I would hold steadfast that the capitalistic system is the only sensible way to bring progress to the world.
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Those of us that can will have to re-start our economic engine and rebuild the wealth; but as long as we collectively believe that we are doomed, we will indeed live out a self-fulfilling prophecy…the sooner that we can focus on staking out the next frontier the faster we are going to get out of this.
The other day I learned a new phrase that was not part of my economics professor’s vocabulary: “the cascading economic downward spiral.”
What a profound way to describe our current economic condition. I leave it to your own imagination what exactly the term is trying to describe.
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Our will, our patience and our pocketbooks will get tested in ways we have not experienced in a very long time, but if you believe in the fundamentals that I have outlined, you will understand that your hope for better days ahead are well founded.
As the stiff breeze of a difficult economy is blowing hard in our faces, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to stay positive.
One of my recipes in a situation like this is to put things into perspective and therefore it would be a good moment for us to remember what makes this nation great in the first place, so that we can understand the fundamental forces that are in play which will drive us toward a better economic futur: Read More
With a new president in office, we have entered a new era in American history. We already have heard the themes of the new Administration – “Personal Responsibility,” “Restore Hope” and working towards “Positive Change.” Whether these words take root and create positive momentum is left to be answered by all of us.
Te Economy is the No. 1 topic. Te fact that we are in the deepest recession of our lifetime is worrisome and has taken center stage in our daily lives. We have already witnessed that the government is prepared to do its part, and the new administration will continue to take every measure it can pass through Congress to help the economy.
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