If Isaac Newton was alive today and could sing the blues, he might select a song by legendary blues guitarist Robert Cray, "The Forecast Calls for Pain."
What’s with Newton, blues, and pain? Well, let’s begin with his Third Law of Motion: "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."
Oh, let me note that Sir Isaac crafted the laws of motion, invented calculus, and unraveled gravity while secluded near Cambridge, during the Great Plague of 1665.
Like Isaac, you and the economy have endured COVID-19, sequestration, and trillion-dollar check writing. Applying Newton’s Third Law, what equal and opposite reaction can you expect as a consequence of these occurrences?
One way or another, somebody has to endure the pain of paying for the trillion-dollar checks and broken government budgets. One popular way to pay for rubber checks is printing money (See Venezuela today and Germany c. 1923). Another solution is increased taxation. You’d be wise to expect a combination of both printing money and rising taxes. So indeed, The Forecast Calls for Pain.
If this forecast should prove accurate, what actions might you consider to avoid the pain?
You clearly recognize that the eyes of government–at every level–will soon be looking at you and your wallet. With those governmental taxing wheels soon in motion, shouldn’t you also be in motion in an equal and opposite way?
So, did Isaac Newton sing the blues? After that apple bonked him on the head, he may well have sung out in pain. But after his "aha moment," he surely didn’t sit and wait for the whole tree to bombard him. Consider this your call to action, or you may be singing the blues.