• ‘FAMILY BUSINESS’ – defined as any company in which two or more family members “exercise control, concurrently or sequentially” – represent some 90% of American businesses, employing over half the nation’s workers and GNP.  When managed effectively, up to two-thirds make it through two generations (up to sixty years). Meanwhile, a study of 25,000 publicly-traded companies over the last six decades found that, on average, they lasted only 15 years, and a Boston Group study found almost one-in-three faced a five-year ‘exit risk.’ The principal reason that Family Businesses survive is “their tendency to think in terms of Generations, versus ‘quarterly profits,’ which puts them a better position for action to endure tough times –  including adapting quickly to changing circumstances and navigating to not only preserve cash, but also to ensure well-being of their employees and communities.”  [HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW]    DCG have decades of expertise in Family Business structure, infrastructure, financial, tax, and positioning for optimal transition and/or exit valuation. Call us for courtesy consultation.
  • ABRAHAM LINCOLN, at the beginning of his political career, “warned of the greatest threat facing America, declaring: Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never!…  But a new study by esteemed historian Victor Davis Hanson, The End of Everything: How Wars Descend Into Annihilation, warns that what can seem unimaginable can, given the (wrong) circumstances, become inevitable… While it’s possible an external enemy could bring America to its knees, the more that technologically advanced mankind develops the ability to wipe out wartime enemies, the more it develops a postmodern conceit that total war is an obsolete exercise… However, Lincoln also predicted that our greatest existential threat remains ourselves. And, today, America seems almost as culturally and politically divided as it was in the years directly preceding our Civil War.”  [https://thefederalist.com/2024/07/12/should-we-worry-about-the-end-of-america/]
  • FOR A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, “Travelers” is an exceptionally creative, well-done, and thought-provoking Netflix science-fiction series – where hundreds of years in the future, a way of sending Consciousness back through time examines the impacts of what remains from 21st century human perspective and behavior. Good summer streaming.
  • THE SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST FUND WILL BE INSOLVENT IN NINE YEARS, according to latest report from its Trustees. The current Biden Administration plan to “bleed it dry until benefits are slashed by 21% at that point, then keep it afloat over the next 75 years, which would require some $75 Trillion in deficit spending.”  [WASHINGTON EXAMINER – 7/9/24]
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:
  • –     The uphill battle for election integrity got a boost last week when the House finally passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, requiring identification to ensure that only American citizens vote in federal elections. “A whopping five Democrats crossing over to vote for honest elections, when Newsweek outed the patriotic turncoat Democrats, but Good Luck getting this bill a fair hearing in the Democrat-controlled Senate.”  [PATRIOT POST]
  • –     The Republican National Committee’s list of 20 priorities:
  1. SEAL THE BORDER, AND STOP THE MIGRANT INVASION
  2. CARRY OUT THE LARGEST DEPORTATION OPERATION IN AMERICAN HISTORY
  3. END INFLATION, AND MAKE AMERICA AFFORDABLE AGAIN
  4. MAKE AMERICA THE DOMINANT ENERGY PRODUCER IN THE WORLD, BY FAR!
  5. STOP OUTSOURCING, AND TURN THE UNITED STATES INTO A MANUFACTURING SUPERPOWER
  6. LARGE TAX CUTS FOR WORKERS, AND NO TAX ON TIPS!
  7. DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION, OUR BILL OF RIGHTS, AND OUR FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS, INCLUDING FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF RELIGION, AND THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
  8. PREVENT WORLD WAR THREE, RESTORE PEACE IN EUROPE AND IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND BUILD A GREAT IRON DOME MISSILE DEFENSE SHIELD OVER OUR ENTIRE COUNTRY — ALL MADE IN AMERICA
  9. END THE WEAPONIZATION OF GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
  10. STOP THE MIGRANT CRIME EPIDEMIC, DEMOLISH THE FOREIGN DRUG CARTELS, CRUSH GANG VIOLENCE, AND LOCK UP VIOLENT OFFENDERS
  11. REBUILD OUR CITIES, INCLUDING WASHINGTON DC, MAKING THEM SAFE, CLEAN, AND BEAUTIFUL AGAIN.
  12. STRENGTHEN AND MODERNIZE OUR MILITARY, MAKING IT, WITHOUT QUESTION, THE STRONGEST AND MOST POWERFUL IN THE WORLD
  13. KEEP THE U.S. DOLLAR AS THE WORLD’S RESERVE CURRENCY
  14. FIGHT FOR AND PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE WITH NO CUTS, INCLUDING NO CHANGES TO THE RETIREMENT AGE
  15. CANCEL THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE MANDATE AND CUT COSTLY AND BURDENSOME REGULATIONS
  16. CUT FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ANY SCHOOL PUSHING CRITICAL RACE THEORY, RADICAL GENDER IDEOLOGY, AND OTHER INAPPROPRIATE RACIAL, SEXUAL, OR POLITICAL CONTENT ON OUR CHILDREN
  17. KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS
  18. DEPORT PRO-HAMAS RADICALS AND MAKE OUR COLLEGE CAMPUSES SAFE AND PATRIOTIC AGAIN
  19. SECURE OUR ELECTIONS, INCLUDING SAME DAY VOTING, VOTER IDENTIFICATION, PAPER BALLOTS, AND PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP
  20. UNITE OUR COUNTRY BY BRINGING IT TO NEW AND RECORD LEVELS OF SUCCESS

–      For many parents on pins & needles: College Admission rates these days: https://flowingdata.com/2024/07/09/college-admission-rates-for-where-you-went-to-school/