Does the Dog Wag its Tail, or the Tail Wag the Dog?

I try to scan headlines and read articles as much as time permits.  Take a look at the following headlines from the media this past week:

• IMF Warns Ukraine-Russia War Will Likely Slow Global Growth – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
• ECB Prepares to Raise Rates in 2022 as Stagflation Threat Looms – WSJ
• Will Inflation Stay High for Decades? One Influential Economist Says Yes – WSJ
• Record gas prices are pushing up everyday costs, dampening economic recovery – The Washington Post
• Soaring oil prices will hurt global economy as Ukraine war disrupts Russian supplies – The Washington Post
• U.S. Economy Can Weather Russia Crisis Shock. But Democrats Face Peril – Bloomberg

Are you catching a theme?  Lots of doom and gloom is on the horizon.  If you just paid attention to the headlines, you would think both the US and World economies are headed for disaster.  Coming out of the Covid and the Great Recession of 2007-09, it would be easy to fall into that mindset.  However, I will tell you that many businesses actually flourished during those times.

This is not to say that a pullback or bad economic environment does not happen. It certainly does.  Economies are cyclical and have both sustained up and downturns.  Thankfully, the US has a system in place which favors more ups versus downs over time.

Those business leaders that realize this phenomenon and choose not to let the headlines dictate their strategy are the ones that typically succeed over the long term.  It begs the question:  Do you believe the dog wags its tail or does the tail wag the dog?

I will leave you with this quote from Richard Branson:

“Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.” 

Keep moving forward and don’t fall into the trap of letting the tail wag the dog in your business.

Here are a few other things that may be of interest:

• Economic Review: March 2022 – Silvercrest (silvercrestgroup.com) – Thanks to Sean O’Dowd for sharing
• Helpful Coronavirus Resource Pages
  • EisnerAmper Coronavirus Hub
  • NFIB Small Business Resources in Response to Coronavirus
  • RKL Coronavirus Resource Page
  • Trout CPA Covid-19 Resources
  • The Tax Warriors Covid-19 Tax Resource Center
  • COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Resources | Littler Mendelson P.C.

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As always, please don’t hesitate to email myself (jsanders@mpl-law.com), Andy Miller (amiller@mpl-law.com), Christian Miller (cmiller@mpl-law.com), Erik Spurlin (espurlin@mpl-law.com) or anyone in our office with questions or comments.