historical context

Connection, through the Ages
photo shows a gravel towpath along a blue river

I recently traveled through part of the history of communications. I was on a trip to the northeast. On one morning walk, I was able to reflect on how each age has had its own modes, connecting people and places with ever-newer technology. 

This topic is of natural interest to us: communication is a major element of our connection with you. 

For hundreds of years, the rich resources and strategic locales of the Potomac River watershed served as a major crossroads for coastal and inland indigenous groups. Colonizers arrived, and the river also carried settlers and European traders. 

Begun in 1811, the National Pike became the first major highway built by the federal government. Its right-of-way is still in use in many places. I walked on it to get to a canal. 

I followed the path where mules once pulled the boats; the land is a park now and may be hiked its 185-mile length. It stretches along the Potomac from D.C. to Cumberland, Maryland. 

Railroad tracks run nearby, tracks from the nation’s first common carrier—the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad—whose service began in 1834. 

Copper wires stretched over my head, another legacy of the 19th century. The B&O right-of-way was used to construct the first telegraph route in the country. 

By the 1960s, parts of this land were crisscrossed with bridges over the new Interstate Highway System. 

I saw all of this on a short morning walk. Add to the list the phone I used to take a picture of the river and the towpath! And these are only a few of the major communication developments we’re witness to every day. 

The means and modes of our connections may change over time, but we suspect the desire to live our lives as social creatures will persist. Clients, if you would like to talk about this or anything else, please email us or call. 

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Connection, through the Ages – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

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The History of the Stock Market: A 5-Word Story

The entire history of the stock market fits into five simple words: it goes up and down. We can’t know the schedule ahead of time, and this can stir up some stress in the short term. But it seems reasonable to guess this whole “up and down” thing may persist.

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That ’70s Post
photo shows a close-up of the 1970s LOVE postage stamp for 8 cents

A TV sitcom from the turn of the millennium, That ‘70s Show was the story of teenage friends in the late 1970s. A period piece, the trappings of the show remind me how dramatically the life of the American consumer has changed—and yet the ’70s might come around again.

No, we are not going back to a time when the great new retail products included patented suitcases with wheels, Mr. Coffee automatic coffee makers, and Pong games. But for certain economic trends, That ’70s Show might seem more relevant once again.

Back then, inflation and interest rates were at multidecade peaks, up in the teens. Commodity prices were roaring higher, and shortages emerged. For forty years now, interest rates and inflation have been sliding: rates for each have been near zero for years.

Perhaps, finally, the trend is changing. Inflation rates and interest rates may rise again—perhaps persistently, for a period of years. No one knows for certain.

Inflation means rising prices. Just consider the changes you might have noticed recently with houses and cars and lumber, even our groceries and gasoline. Seems prices are on their way up, quickly in some places.

These things have major effects on the investment markets. Bonds and other fixed income investments may struggle if interest rates move higher; commodity producers may benefit from rising prices. Keep in mind that winners and losers emerge when things change.

We may be getting that ’70s feeling in some ways, but it’s a good reminder that history has provided a solid foundation for our work here with you.

Clients, if you would like to talk about this (or simply reminisce about the ’70s), email us or call.

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Play the audio version of this post below:

That ‘70s Post – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

Peace and Prosperity: What We Hope for in the Long Run
photo shows a pink and purple and blue sunrise over rolling hills

Nearly 150 years ago, Jules Verne wrote about the colorful adventures of an ambitious globetrotter in Around the World in Eighty Days. During the American leg of his journey, the traveler Phileas Fogg is attacked when he is caught in a riot that breaks out between two competing political rallies.

The punchline of the story comes when Fogg asks one of the locals what office the opposing politicians are running for. Was it a very important position? The answer: “No, sir; justice of the peace.”

Like many of the episodes in Verne’s book, the local color is exaggerated for dramatic effect. But it still makes one thing clear: American politics have a longstanding reputation for rowdiness.

We have the good fortune to be living in relatively peaceful times. When riots and protests broke out in cities across the country over the summer, it was alarming to many of us—but not unprecedented. We have been here before, even within many of our lifetimes. Adjusted for inflation, the damage surrounding the riots reacting to George Floyd’s death was roughly similar on a per capita basis to the 1992 riots over the Rodney King incident.

Such violence is tragic. It was regrettable then, and it is regrettable now. At some point in the future it will happen again, and it will be regrettable in the future too. Do not mistake our comparisons here as explanations for or resignation to violence. We offer the comparisons to seek some perspective.

Generally, we think of ourselves as optimists. We look forward to better things for our children and grandchildren than we had for ourselves. But healthy optimists move in a real world. We can hope that we will know less unrest in the future, but it will never be gone entirely.

In six years, our nation will celebrate its 250th birthday. In two-and-a-half centuries of existence it has seen civil war, two world wars, droughts, famines, and many pandemics. Every year it sees wildfires and hurricanes far more damaging than any riot in our history. It has seen the sun set on imperialism, defeated fascism, and outlasted communism. Come what may, it’s poised to survive the next presidential term, and the next, and the next.

We look forward to 2026 and celebrating the U.S. Semiquincentennial. Our crystal ball is a little fuzzier further out, but we still think the Republic will be here in 2076 for the Tricentennial, too.

And who knows? Maybe we have a chance to provide writers from around the world more uplifting episodes to write about.

Clients, when you have any thoughts or questions, please give us a call.

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