The Causey Consulting Podcast

Harry Angel: Louis Cyphre . . . Lucifer. Even your name is a dime store joke.
Louis Cyphre: Mephistopheles is such a mouthful in Manhattan, Johnny...
-From Angel Heart, 1987

Mephistopheles might be a mouthful in Manhattan. Or maybe Mephistopheles is already in Manhattan.

For those of you in the, "We could just neeeevveerrr have another 2008" crowd, the documentary "Money, Power, Impunity: The Bankers Who Stole The World" should be mandatory viewing. If you get a bit of gray in your hair (silver, in my case), you'll realize you've lived long enough to see these "we could just never" events happen multiple times. Funny how that works.

In a shining example of cult-like tactics used in Corporate America, the CEO of Lehman Brothers is shown in an internal (or perhaps infernal) video salivating over the idea of ripping out hearts and eating them in front of the victims. I mean . . . WTF?

Link to the documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsFpFP8o1o8

Other links I discuss in this episode:

https://features.marketplace.org/why-no-ceo-went-jail-after-financial-crisis/#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20executives%20jailed,one%20banker%20went%20to%20jail.

https://www.reuters.com/article/baker-hedgefund-plea/chicago-hedge-fund-manager-pleads-guilty-to-fraud-idUSN1E77N1UI20110824


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Key topics:

✔️ ICYMI news, 8/22 - 8/26.
✔️ "Apple employees claim they’re doing ‘exceptional work’ remotely as Tim Cook orders them back. They’re probably wrong."   WOW.  Ignore the RTO fluff pieces / WFH hit pieces at your own risk, IMO.
✔️ Most recent homebuyers feel buyers' remorse about their real estate purchases. This is another example of times when a delay in your process can turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
✔️ If you're out there doing "revenge spending" that you cannot afford in order to impress randos on social media... what are you thinking?!

Links I mention in this episode:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-employees-claim-doing-exceptional-153727824.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/23/why-recent-homebuyers-have-regrets-about-their-purchases.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/20/shoppers-spend-over-300-a-month-on-impulse-purchases-despite-recession-fears.html

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/laid-off-workers-finding-jobs-fast-5412092/

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/dimon-not-backing-down-on-rto-5418356/


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Siren courtesy of Pixabay. 

"The idea that 'work sucks' is everywhere. It’s been the subject of ancient philosophers, world leaders, your colleagues and even pop culture. Comedian George Carlin once quipped, 'Oh, you hate your job? Why didn’t you say so? There’s a support group for that. It’s called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar.'"
-From the Gallup State of the Global Workplace Report

"Late night, come home. Work sucks, I know." -Blink 182

In this episode, I will discuss the findings of Gallup's State of the Global Workplace Report for 2022. Most people report that they are stressed out and emotionally detached. So how do we make sense of this in light of The Great Resignation? If people hopped across the market to find better money and better conditions, then why are a majority still reporting that work sucks?

Links I discuss in this episode:

https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace-2022-report.aspx

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/03/09/majority-of-workers-who-quit-a-job-in-2021-cite-low-pay-no-opportunities-for-advancement-feeling-disrespected/

https://www.spiceworks.com/hr/engagement-retention/news/40-percent-employees-who-quit-unhappy/

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/morning-brief-companies-lower-headcount-093038889.html

Need more? Email me: https://causeyconsultingllc.com/contact-causey/

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"The sun shines
And people forget
The spray flies as the speedboat glides
And people forget..."
"Eminence Front" by The Who.

Whenever I publish anything about the déjà vu the current markets are giving me, I will have at least one troll - usually either a mansplainer, corporate shill, or bot - assure me that we could just neeeevvvveeerrrr have another 2008 again. Really?

The crappy thing is: Wall Street is right. The public forgets. I recently watched The Divide: The Real People Behind the Wealth Gap  on Java Discover and one of the interviewees, a former VP at Deutsche Bank, recalls a conversation about the bailouts in which she was told, "Well, here's the thing: the public always forgets." Now here we are.

You can find the film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1WvDqj1qzQ

Other links I discuss in this episode:

https://causeyconsultingllc.com/2022/08/17/wait-a-minute-i-thought-pplr-doin-great/

https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/k-shaped-recovery-definition


Need more? Email me: https://causeyconsultingllc.com/contact-causey/

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Key topics:

✔️ ICYMI news, 8/15 - 8/19.
✔️ Jamie Dimon's desire to see everyone back in the Cube Farm this fall may come true.
✔️ Another real estate mansplainer tried to tell me that there is just noooooo way we could ever have a repeat of 2008. Meanwhile: Blackstone is gearing up to buy houses when the downturn happens. I mean... connect the dots.
✔️ According to Yahoo Finance, at least half of US companies are planning to reduce headcount. Ignore this data at your own risk.

Links I mention in this episode:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jpmorgan-ceo-jamie-dimon-rips-062715020.html

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/whats-your-productivity-score-4901137/

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/apple-tells-workers-its-time-to-rto-4899025/

https://nypost.com/2022/08/16/walmart-sales-get-boost-from-higher-income-shoppers/

https://nypost.com/2022/08/15/six-flags-workers-call-for-ceos-ouster-as-attendance-plunges/

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/blackstone-prepping-record-50-billion-150000581.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/17/target-tgt-q2-2022-earnings.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/18/jobless-claims-edge-lower-as-fed-looks-to-cool-labor-market.html

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/rto-deadlines-loom-after-labor-day-4908961/

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/morning-brief-companies-lower-headcount-093038889.html

Need more? Email me: https://causeyconsultingllc.com/contact-causey/
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Siren courtesy of Pixabay. 

Agriculture is never an easy line of work. As JFK noted, "The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways." Farmers are expected to do more than that now. So what does this mean for you?

Key topics:

✔️ Farmers have been warning people for months about food and water shortages. People in agriculture are often on the frontlines of what's yet to come. If you ignore them, you're doing it at your own risk IMO.
✔️ I had seeds that did nothing. My corn was completely burned up in the flash drought. I'm hearing the same thing from other people around the country regardless of growing zone.
✔️ Hay prices are insane and that's if you can find any. Some fields are seeing a 50% drop in bales produced this summer with no second cutting.
✔️ People are so disconnected from nature, the food supply, and wheel of the year. There IS a time for sowing and for reaping, for planting and for harvesting, for basking in the sun and for storing food for the winter months. So what happens if there is little or no harvest in the summer and early fall?


Links I discuss in this episode:

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article264446131.html

https://www.foxnews.com/media/national-black-farmers-president-issues-dire-warning-biden-admin-heading-food-shortage

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/12/mass-crop-failures-expected-in-england-as-farmers-demand-hosepipe-bans


Need more? Email me: https://causeyconsultingllc.com/contact-causey/

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I'm hearing across the board from people in the emergency preparedness community about people - irrespective of age, geography, personal situations, etc. - who want everything done for them. "Hey, could you just like rough out a survival game plan for me? K, thx!"

Who is gonna do that for you? Or are there people in your life who will expect that from you ?

I saw this years ago when I ran a CSA-style side hustle and had customers tell me, point blank, "I know you can't customize these produce boxes for everyone else, ha ha, but make an exception for me." 😒

Need more? Email me: https://causeyconsultingllc.com/contact-causey/

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Key topics:
✔️ ICYMI news, 8/8 - 8/12.
✔️ The push for RTO is getting more and more obvious.
✔️ More layoffs. Risk analysts are warning businesses that food shortages could lead to civil unrest.
✔️ Gas and food prices are expected to go up even more, but hey: transitory! 😒

Links I mention in this episode:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1125110/11095219

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/did-hiring-just-get-easier-5951122/

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/09/sweetgreen-stock-plummets-after-salad-chain-cuts-forecast-announces-layoffs.html

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/companies-productivity-wells-fargo-192212880.html

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/assume-laid-off-suze-orman-200500669.html

https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/us-gas-prices-will-jump-back-to-4-35-soon-because-supplies-are-running-low-goldman-sachs-says/articleshow/93432209.cms

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/tyson-raises-prices-chicken-demand-shifts-expensive-beef-cuts

https://fortune.com/2022/08/09/ceos-say-remote-work-hurting-businesses/

https://blocksandfiles.com/2022/08/10/nutanix-layoffs/

https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/8/23297637/snap-snapchat-layoff-plans-weak-q2-earnings

https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/vedanta-ceo-blames-challenging-environment-biotech-laying-20-staff

https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d39mq/business-is-booming-for-layoff-specialists-never-seen-anything-like-this

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-weekly-jobless-claims-rise-second-straight-week-2022-08-11/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/businesses-should-prepare-for-risk-of-civil-unrest-from-food-scarcity-11660210202

Need more? Email me: https://causeyconsultingllc.com/contact-causey/
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Siren courtesy of Pixabay. 

In last Thursday's episode, I added the Tattletale and the Blame Gamer to the Hall of Infamy. Now I would like to add the Dictator. 

Key topics:

✔️ Sadly, there are plenty of companies that learned nothing from The Great Resignation. IMO, this is why I am seeing more Dictator types emerging from the shadows: they feel emboldened to behave that way.
✔️ How much micromanagement do you want to tolerate? Only you can decide.
✔️ If you can suss out that a manager is a dictatorial type BEFORE you take a job or you start a project, so much the better.


Links I discuss in this episode:

https://www.inc.com/jayson-demers/7-types-of-clients-who-will-take-your-patience-to-the-brink.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/01/business/return-to-office-battles.html

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1125110/11034023

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1125110/11058329


Need more? Email me: https://causeyconsultingllc.com/contact-causey/

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On August 5th, the NY Post published, "Malcolm Gladwell slams working from home: ‘What have you reduced your life to?’"

The very first line reads, "Author Malcolm Gladwell thinks that remote work is hurting society and that a recession will likely drive employees who are 'sitting in their pajamas' back into the office."

I've been warning you for months now that Corporate America would use an economic downturn to its own advantage, including a demand for RTO. Welp, now we're here.

Link I discuss in this episode:

https://nypost.com/2022/08/05/malcolm-gladwell-slams-working-from-home/amp/

Need more? Email me: https://causeyconsultingllc.com/contact-causey/

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