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Let's imagine for a moment that I am the democratically elected God-Emperor of a medium sized country called Travistan (the people insisted we change the name).
And that we have a GDP of 1000.
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And that we have a GDP of 1000.
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“1000 what?” you might ask, to which I would reply “never you mind, citizen, it's not germane to the thread.”
Now, if you've read today’s Travistan Herald, you know these are both challenging and exciting times for our country.
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Now, if you've read today’s Travistan Herald, you know these are both challenging and exciting times for our country.
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Just in case you're not caught up, let me fill you in: local artisans are producing a new form of art.
They call it a kinetic sculpture and it uses magnets to put on some really fascinating displays.
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They call it a kinetic sculpture and it uses magnets to put on some really fascinating displays.
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At first this was just a bit of a curiously, and for some time it was ignored.
While I love the arts, it's just a fact of governance that boutique artisans rarely garner the attention of the court.
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While I love the arts, it's just a fact of governance that boutique artisans rarely garner the attention of the court.
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But last quarter, our finance minister made a point of highlighting this kinesio-magnetic art (KMA) has grown into a whole sector and now merits more attention.
It's good timing, really: as you know covid has been hard on all countries.
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It's good timing, really: as you know covid has been hard on all countries.
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The good (if still strange) news is that the recent troubles haven't impacted KMA demand - quite the opposite; the sector is booming.
The value of the art varies a bit, but it's adding something like 10 or 20 units to GDP.
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The value of the art varies a bit, but it's adding something like 10 or 20 units to GDP.
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How meaningful is that?
Honestly, I'm still trying to figure that out and have reached out to our country’s top economists on the matter:
7/ https://twitter.com/coloradotravis/status/1350277154420899841
Honestly, I'm still trying to figure that out and have reached out to our country’s top economists on the matter:
7/ https://twitter.com/coloradotravis/status/1350277154420899841
But the early read we’re getting from them is that for an economy of any real size, 1-2% is a decently meaningful contribution.
It's perhaps even more meaningful for Travistan, given our situation.
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It's perhaps even more meaningful for Travistan, given our situation.
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And a timely one as well.
I'm not sure if you recall, but the Americans and I had a big to-do about cowboy hats and football.
I misstepped a bit and told them that think they’re both ridiculous, so… well now the relationship is rather complicated.
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I'm not sure if you recall, but the Americans and I had a big to-do about cowboy hats and football.
I misstepped a bit and told them that think they’re both ridiculous, so… well now the relationship is rather complicated.
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And to be honest "complicated" is bad right now, given our debt situation and whatnot.
Fortunately, these artisans have been a timely addition to our productivity which should, if nothing else, blunt the harsh edge of this downturn.
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Fortunately, these artisans have been a timely addition to our productivity which should, if nothing else, blunt the harsh edge of this downturn.
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Anyhow: I appreciate you dropping by citizen, thank you for listening. (“Guards - uncuff him!”)
Given your standing as a respected economic thinker, I would appreciate your thoughts on the matter once you've had time to digest all this.
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Given your standing as a respected economic thinker, I would appreciate your thoughts on the matter once you've had time to digest all this.
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I've had my squire assemble some further reading material for you.
While these references are regarding a different sector, our internal view is that there may be strong parallels we can draw from to inform our thinking.
Travistan thanks you in advance for your service.
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While these references are regarding a different sector, our internal view is that there may be strong parallels we can draw from to inform our thinking.
Travistan thanks you in advance for your service.
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