Inflection Points

Compounding Effects in a Rapidly Changed World

Last week, I discussed some symptoms of a sick state, specifically the declines since 1994 in the percentage of new companies in the economy, the number of people switching jobs, and the number of people moving interstate.

If you haven’t read that, I’d encourage you to take a moment and go back and read it first. It’s important for establishing a starting point in this conversation.

The world has changed dramatically in the past few years, and the rate of change seems to be accelerating.

It used to be that major—or “generational”—events happened rarely. That no longer seems to be the case. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, major events have occurred with accelerating frequency. Since 2020, we’ve witnessed annually events that alone would be era-defining: the COVID-19 pandemic, the January 6 Riots, and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. All of the…