The Wall Street Journal had an excellent article on the state of the United States electrical grid by Katherine Blunt and we encourage you to read every word but the bad news is that it’s in the same state that all the other infrastructure in the U.S. is in and we’ve written about over the past few months. A key quote from the article:
A report last year by the American Society of Civil Engineers found that 70% of transmission and distribution lines are well into the second half of their expected 50-year lifespans.
Wall Street Journal
We know what you’re thinking….”big deal just hire some people and fix the grid” right? Well in a recurring theme here at the Econonaut, we keep telling everyone that EVERY SINGLE DAY, we have 10,000 or so baby boomers RETIRE from the labor force. The process ends up meaning that anywhere from 2 to 3 million people retire, enroll in social security and medicare and live their retirement years however they choose to do so.
In The Next Civil War Will Be About Labor Not Politics, we outlined the case for the ever so tough choices to be made about where society will prioritize resources. In The Labor Battle Intensifies Healthcare vs Retail we made the case that retail jobs are now competing for healthcare jobs. In Boomer consequences: Pilots, Truckers, Nursing and More, we made the case of the huge impact that retiring baby boomers and others are having on the economy and it doesn’t seem to many people are paying attention because this topic hasn’t gone mainstream yet.
What is the net result of all this major problem hardly anyone speaks about these days? Wage inflation and the evidence for this is everywhere if you pay attention. From Colorado and the utility services, a news investigation into the 13 percent raises given to employees:
Benyamin stands by the raises and explained the salary adjustments were needed to attract new employees and retain quality workers. He also said that the raises he signed off on have absolutely nothing to do with the higher utility bills customers may have received over the last couple of months.
KOAA.com
The investment opportunity here is to look at companies that deal in infrastructure utility installation, maintenance and repair because it WILL be needed and a priority for society. Fortunately, we have a list of companies that are looking good for investment and the way you can learn about them is to stay tuned and stay solvent…