My name is Christopher Peter. I am the political economist providing the economic perspective on salient current events and issues that impact our public policy, our economic outcomes, and our overall society. Each week, I provide policy and brand reviews on the Christopher Peter Review as well as commentary below in the CRC podcast. Please experience the featured content below and click on any image for more!

MAKE PEACE NOT WAR

The United States has never been a nation quick to fight other nation’s battles. Non-intervention or indirect involvement has been our traditional approach. For instance, the US stayed out of the world wars until we were dragged into these conflicts. While one can be sympathetic to the passion for Ukrainian President Zelensky’s fight, one can also be objective to acknowledge the fact that he his fighting an unwinnable war relying on the generosity of others. There is a need to turn towards peace.

THE POWER OF INCENTIVES

Humans are greatly influenced by rewards and consequences. Generally, people seek to maximize rewards and avoid consequences. Our society is generally punishment averse. So, the behaviors and choices you reward are more likely to grow. Although people are shying away from negative reinforcement for bad behaviors, we must not completely fall down the slippery slope where bad behaviors is encouraged and society is sympathetic to the whims of the bad while overlooking the plight unfairly placed on victims.

SMALL BUSINESS MATTERS

Our economy has the room for and needs businesses of all sizes, small, medium, large, and global organizations domiciled in our borders. There are advantages of all, but challenges when public policy unintentionally gives one type an unfair advantage over other forms. In the above, I discuss reasonable ideas to protect small businesses.

THE PROHIBITIVE COST OF EDUCATION

The debate over higher education is a broad and complex one. Should certain fields really require college degrees? How should access be fairly allocated? The one thing we cannot deny is the importance skills have in our economy. Attaining the set of marketable skills changes over time. Personally, I support the college experience, but also believe alternative paths are more than suitable ways to pursue a viable career. In the above, I offer ideas to try to lower the cost of college attendance beyond redistribution so a person can make a real choice.

WHAT IS NORMAL?

A great deal of effort is done with the intent of influence what Americans view as normal, which can be subjective to each individual experience. I hesitate to ever view something as weird without trying to see the actual impact and the idea behind something. In the above featured piece, I discuss normalcy in society as the main topic.

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The CRC Team discuss topics pulled from leading news publications and trending social media issues on the CRC Team Channel. Please experience the featured content below and click above for the current discussion.

The economic perspective that I aim to provide in my content is identifying opportunities to create the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people in the most effective and efficient manner possible. Finding the most optimal outcomes given the constraints while adhering to our shared core principles and values.

I believe that our society encourages many individuals to externalize responsibility for every facet of daily life outward. For instance, we may hear people blame traffic for the reason they are considerably late for everything, ignoring the fact that they leave later than they should and there was no significant change in traffic volume and patterns when they make this claim. My personal favorite for my own self-justification is projecting blame on the tempting nature of certain food, rather than accepting blame for me not choosing the healthy option when I gain weight.

Just because there is an excuse does not mean it is the reason. There is always a choice in any event that we could make to improve a situation or make matters worse. Always a perspective of how we can take greater agency over the outcomes in our life rather than believing that everything is up to fate. Everything happens for a reason and our choices tend to be the reason that something good happens or something not so good occurs.

Not long ago, I heard about the concept of taking a 100% accountability in life, which rubbed me the wrong way while listening to the audiobook that was discussing it. The idea was accepting full responsibility for situations that you were involved in that did not have the desired outcomes. While many of these may not be a direct result of your action or choices, it helps you identify points where you can influence your outcomes in the future. Rather than assigning blame and continuing down the same path.

I thought this was a challenging but helpful concept because it helps one take full accountability and agency over their outcomes. Rather than expecting the world to change for them, which is not likely to happen. Even the events where you did not cause the outcomes, but you make yourself better prepared for future circumstances so that your decision making can change. Connecting this idea to something I was told in the past, the ability to succeed is not always about things going perfectly, but about identifying the critical moments and decisions that need to be made. Better known as opportunity.

During a moment of career adversity, I was asked by someone close to me about how I was not mad or resentful about the situation. I responded that my emotions about the situation would not change the matter either way. I cannot fully control what others may overlook, as they are entitled to their opinion. Rather my focus needed to be to connect with people that were seeking the skill set I developed and message how these skills would translate to value for them. That was helpful in elevating my situation well beyond what the previous path could have ever offered me.

Still learning more about this concept, but early lessons have been fruitful. There are many things in life we cannot control. But there are always choices to make situations better or change the approach to achieve what we want or need. Instead of banging our heads against a wall and hoping to find a way forward, why not change our thinking and attitudes and discover the many potential bridges that can uplift ourselves and those arounds us.

In closing, I thank you in advance for experiencing The Christopher Peter Review. Please take a moment to subscribe on YouTube and follow The Christopher Peter Review on social media platforms.