This year has been the year of pendulums. We have had oil prices skyrocket and then fall precipitously. The housing market is on the downside of a huge multi-year pendulum having shot into the stratosphere and now coming back to find a bottom level. The stock market has had huge 900 point pendulum swings in a day.
Many of these pendulum swings are fed by the media. If bad news comes it is magnified many times over by the constant barrage of competing media outlets. If good new comes–any good news–we jump on that band wagon for a quick way out.
The election cycle has had a magnifying effect on this too. If the party out of power can make things look bad, it’s better for them. If the party in power can make things look rosy, chances are they will stay in power. So what happens… political ads get blown way out of proportion… this is the best/worst it has ever been is a common theme.
The good news is, the US election cycle will be over tomorrow. We will choose our leaders and our propositions and then be able to get back to business. The media will quiet down for a while and these crazy pendulums may start to find a center.
In the ensuing months it may be a good time to reflect and take a realistic look at where we are and set some realistic long term goals. Its also a good time to reflect on values that are timeless and are present in the good times and the bad.
More Insight: Seth Godin has a great piece today on the paradox of economic pendulum thinking on business while Dwayne Melancon has a insightful post about putting things in context.
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Great insights and a interesting analogy.
where will it swing next – anything left to swing?
I really like pendulums. It feels they have lots of information hidden in them. I have studied on them a lot; the most interesting thing in them is that they clarify complete gravitational force.
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