These are dynamic times for the U.S. economy and our industry as we continue into the 2020s – or what I’ve been calling “the Roaring 2020s.”
Despite a challenging start to the decade, 2021 has shown some very strong year-on-year growth in key economic indicators, and though there may be a slower growth rate in the years ahead, we have definitely seen a recovery out of a pretty steep decline from last year.
As we all know, we entered 2020 and were developing nicely when COVID-19 hit and altered everything. But in the second quarter, the U.S. economy saw a record high in GDP, indicating that the economy is fully recovered, bouncing back faster than most people predicted. In our industry, we’ve even seen some acceleration indicating more than just a post-COVID reaction. In fact, current bookings are so strong that we can’t possibly continue to run at this rate.
There are, however, some future economic headwinds we will have to contend with. One such issue is the national debt, which is currently over $28 trillion. If we can’t control spending, that will likely mean increased taxes.
And, although the S&P is up about 20 percent year-on-year and the stock market is at an all-time high, we’re experiencing significant supply chain disruptions, caused by a range of factors – the climate, politics, shipping, the pandemic, trade wars, raw materials pricing, labor scarcity and growing demand. All of these costs are being passed down to consumers at surprising rates.
At the same time, technology is taking a larger role in our lives, and though it comes with some problems such as an increase in cybercrime (which costs $1 trillion annually), it also offers solutions like green energy, electric vehicles, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
With all these influences impacting our business now and throughout the rest of this decade, you can see that “normal” is going to look different than before as we overcome those challenges and face a new wave of technological innovation.
Watch my presentation on TTI’s YouTube channel where I discuss these issues in more detail, as well as what we can expect in the new Roaring 20s. When you do, I believe you’ll agree that we’re on the cusp of something more revolutionary than evolutionary – a transformative time, enabled by the technology all of us provide.
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