After four years of absence I’ve decided to jump back on the DonSalyards.com site.  My reasons for taking a hiatus were simple; once I got out of my weekly blogging routine it became easier and easier not to blog.  I enjoy blogging, but there were so many other things to do that I just let it go.  The Sino-Virus situation has drawn me back into the game.  I plan to blog once a week, but you might see me more often than that during this viral disruption.

I’m sitting in my office at good old 420 Main Street in Winona, Minnesota.  I’m still a Professor at Winona State University, although I am on a sabbatical leave this year.

What we are going through now is unprecedented and world-wide.  In the next few days I  will comment on aspects of this crisis such as bailouts, strategic trade policy, government failure, and long term economic changes resulting from this crisis, but today I want to address uncertainty.

If there is anything in this world that will distort and disrupt personal, community, or governmental behavior, it is uncertainty.  And wow do we have uncertainty, as billions of people don’t know when their jobs will resume, when schools will open again, or when they will be able to attend sporting events, concerts or other large venues.  Uncertainty leads to panic, fear, and often results in irrational behavior.

At this point of time all of us are living lives that are vastly different than anything we have ever experienced.  Know three things:  First, humans thrive on social interaction.  Under such circumstances it is rational and normal to feel despair and depression.   Second, this is a temporary event.  This too shall pass.  Third, when it is finally over and we can take to the streets to resume our normal lives, the pent up demand will explode to deliver a rapidly recovering economy.

Below is a photo of me in the La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires in October 2019.
Be of Good Cheer…the good times will come back!