Sunday, June 26, 2016

Brexit and Us

When any time I give analysis on the economy, I always leave a healthy “but” in there with regards to the political climate.  So when #Brexit – the vote of Britain to leave the European Union- happened this week, that surely became an example of something that “could” be an issue.   We live in such a reactionary world, that some times you really can’t get a true feel for any sort of impact because of the immediate bluster in the aftermath of the event in question.  “Uncertainty” is the key word.  Obviously there’s a lot at play here, and a long way still to go,  so it surely bears our attention going forward.  Could this be something that derails the positive trend that many of us are on?  I ask because the emotional reactions right now are outnumbering any rational ones.  Curious of the thoughts of the amazing minds out there in the industry on this one.... so feel free to share.

Elsewhere

--  Speaking of positive trends… the Architectural Billings Index had an excellent May.  With a score of 53.1 the index posted it’s best score of the year and the analysis is pointing to a fresh surge on the institutional side of the business.  Personally I always liked institutional work because they were less likely to “value engineer” products out.  In any case, this currently stands as a good sign.  Now whether or not the geo-political strife is going to hamper this- we’ll see.

--  Fantastic book out that industry geeks would love.  “One World Trade Center-Biography of the Building” by Judith Depré takes an extremely deep look at the building of the new World Trade Center buildings and the amount of mention on glass and aluminum has been surprisingly heavy.  There’s also insight in there on suppliers for the building I was unaware of, so that was interesting to me.  The best part is it shows our industry as more than just folks who throw some random glass into any old hole.  There’s precision, planning, and care.  That was cool.  I will note the first ½ of the book is where the action is, 2nd half starts in on the other landmarks of MYC and some other items, so it makes for a quicker read.

--  Saw the news this week on Asahi and Solaria.  That is excellent stuff and major kudos to my old friend Scott Hoover who’s obviously doing great things in his role at Solaria.

--  I was able to finally see the movie “13 Hours” and I have to say I am impressed that they kept pretty close to the book.  That’s rare in Hollywood.  But then again this story was so deep and intense it was almost impossible for Hollywood to screw up.  (Then again so was the book based on “Munich” and that was ruined, so who knows)

--  I had one of the moments recently where I know I am getting old.  I had to change the settings on my iPhone to the largest print.  My kids can read my phone from across the room now, as well as some astronauts in space…. 

--  Last this week- a programming note.  No posts coming from me until the week of July 18th.  Unless of course news happens… Which on that note, the rumor mill is churning at record speed, but yet no news, so maybe over these next two weeks things break?  If they do, I’ll tweet about them more than potentially blog.  Anyway, I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Canada Day later this week and Independence Day in the US the week after.  Please try and celebrate the good in the world, honor those who served, and stay positive for the future.  See you back in this space in mid July!

LINKS of the WEEK

--  I love butter… but 2000 year old butter?  Nope.  I’ll pass.  Fun story though.

--  This is such a great story, but you always have to have your guard up somehow since we do live in a world where people love to prey on the good.  Still glad  this worked out.

--  Funny circumstance here… getting stuck in a Barney the Dino head.

VIDEO of the WEEK

So this holiday weekend, instead of watching what looks to be an awful sequel, maybe check out the fun original instead.  Movie I am talking about is Independence Day…  the first one was super.  Not sure the 2nd one will be.  So here’s a flashback to 1996….


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