The Supply Chain Buzz is Supply Chain Now’s regular Monday livestream, held at 12n ET each week. This show focuses on some of the leading stories from global supply chain and global business, always with special guests – the most important of which is the live audience!

This week’s edition of The Buzz featured co-hosts Scott Luton and Greg White marking Chinese New Year in addition to recent news stories. Because Chinese New Year celebrations go on for weeks, they often require special planning from a global supply chain standpoint.

In this livestream, created in collaboration with a live Supply Chain Now audience, Greg and Scott discussed:

• How Amazon is rearranging their fulfillment and storage arrangements with lower volume sellers to protect themselves against added costs

• What it might mean that the U.S. trade deficit as of November 2022 had contracted by 21 percent, the most in almost 14 years

• Recent layoffs from tech companies like Alphabet, Amazon, Salesforce, and Microsoft and whether the trend is expected to slow down or accelerate

• Shortages of goods like semiconductors and batteries that may be even more important to the health of the economy than oil

Intro/Outro (00:03):

Welcome to Supply Chain. Now, the voice of global supply chain Supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues, the challenges and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from Those Making Global Business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:31):

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, Scott Luton, Greg White with you here on Supply Chain. Now welcome to today’s episode, Greg. How you doing?

Greg White (00:40):

I’m doing well, Scott. I’m just adjusting my watch back to Eastern Time. It was in the central time zone this weekend, so

Scott Luton (00:45):

Right now, uh, celebrating a big chief’s win. That was a great game. Any, uh, quick commentary on, on as we get into the final four of the NFL’s playoffs here?

Greg White (00:55):

Well, I mean, uh, you talk about the classic winning the battle and potentially losing the war. Um, our field general took a pretty good hit, uh, during that game. So we’ll see if he’s able to go for the game against the Bengals and the AFC Championship.

Scott Luton (01:10):

Well, at least, uh, the Kansas City Chiefs will be hosting the Bengals and, and good luck to Trisha and Cincinnati Bengals, all the Bengals fans out there at one of the best stadium experiences and all of sports. Uh, they’re in Kansas City, right?

Greg White (01:23):

Yes. And Bengals fans for all of their kvetching over neutral site games, they get to experience a non-neutral site game. They’re welcome

Scott Luton (01:32):

<laugh>. All right. A lot more to come. We’ll break, we’ll break the game down next week, maybe. But, uh, but today, Greg, as you know, as everyone out there knows, it’s all about the supply chain buzz, where we share some of the leading stories, developments, trends, you name it, across global business. We’ve got, uh, a chock full slate here today. And folks, hey, we wanna hear from you too. So it’s not just about, uh, Greg and i’s take on these topics and stories. We’re gonna be, we’re gonna be working our way through, well,

Greg White (01:59):

Really, it’s Scott, but

Scott Luton (02:02):

Well, hey, we want to hear from you. So want

Greg White (02:04):

Input

Scott Luton (02:05):

<laugh>? That’s right. Use that chat tool, a bar, the cheap seats, the Sky Suite, you name it, uh, to share what your take is on these things we work through. Okay. So Greg, uh, one, uh, couple of program notes before we get started here. I’m gonna share this, uh, graph. It is Happy Chinese New Year to all that. Celebrate 2023. Greg is the year of the Rabbit, right? Are you

Greg White (02:27):

Ready? Yes. <laugh>, I guess since it’s the year of the rabbit, every day we’ll be hump day, um, <laugh>.

Scott Luton (02:34):

Oh, man. Oh man. So

Greg White (02:37):

Interestingly, this is a, a really important date for supply chain, right? Because, um, it’s not a New Year’s Day celebration. Sometimes it’s 30 or 60 days or more celebration wherein all of the workers go home, almost apparently very few live in, in the town where they’re actually employed and they take some time off, and then they come back and they don’t all come back at once. So it’s not like capacity in China is shut off for a day or a week and then comes back a hundred percent. It tends to trickle back on. So that is something, a disruption that supply chain professionals have been planning for, for decades.

Scott Luton (03:19):

That is such a great call out, Greg. Uh, so, uh, let us know what’s your take, uh, on what’s gonna take place and the disruption that offers up each and every year, but to all those that celebrate, uh, happy, uh, new Year to you. Um, alright, so Greg, also over the weekend, uh, we released, with that said, the latest edition. We almost have 20,000 subscribers to our LinkedIn newsletter. That’s crazy, isn’t

Greg White (03:46):

It? Yeah, that is crazy. What are you people thinking?

Scott Luton (03:49):

<laugh>. But thank you, first off. Great way

Greg White (03:52):

To Yeah, of course. Thank you. It’s a great way to open your Saturday, right?

Scott Luton (03:55):

That is right. That is right.

Greg White (03:57):

I think you’ve done a good job with that, Scott. Not making it boring kind of supply chain, just completely supply chain oriented news. It’s general, and it’s very informative and, and, uh, and interesting

Scott Luton (04:11):

Man, that is high praise coming from one Greg White. Thank you very much.

Greg White (04:15):

I actually read it knows what that means.

Scott Luton (04:24):

Well, folks, uh, Greg’s, right? You know, we very intentionally, the team here wanted not to create another newsletter that, that replicates everything else we’re doing. We wanted a different take, and we wanted a more general, uh, approach as we look to educate, uh, the market, the, the 1% that may not know, uh, what s global supply chain does. But we also wanted to, uh, there’s a heavy dose of business history in that too, because, well, frankly, I’m a big history nerd Greg, as you know. So y’all check that out. Uh, this past Saturday is all about the rise of the Concord, uh, fascinating, fascinating, uh, story there. And it ties in Greg because the, uh, Concord began commercial service on January 21st, 1976. So really cool there. Uh, Greg and the Concord changed industry in many ways. Do you think

Greg White (05:13):

For a while? It seems to have, I’m surprised that, you know, it, it started, it stopped and it came back again. I’m surprised that there’s not another alternative because the, you know, the New York London corridor that it facilitated was really critical. But then again, you think about the fact that as we’ve experienced over the last three years, you don’t necessarily have to be there. Wow. To have, you know, an important meeting because of other, other technologies like we’re using right now. <laugh>, that’s a great, that enable a real live, interactive meeting without actually being there.

Scott Luton (05:50):

Excellent point. The Concord moves almost as fast as Gregory S. White sprain,

Greg White (05:55):

But certainly not as fast as the internet, right? <laugh>,

Scott Luton (05:58):

Right. Um, alright, so folks, y’all check that out. We dropped a link to the latest edition of what that said in the chat. Let us know what you think. Let’s say hello to a few folks. Greg, we got a packed jam packed house today. We got Shelly Phillips. Yeah, I see back with us from snowy Colorado. They’ve had a lot of snow out that way. Uh, great to see you, Shelly. Mark Preston, my dear friend, uh, from Sunny Peachtree City, a little bit warmer in Peachtree City. You think Greg <laugh>

Greg White (06:24):

We’re on the wrong side of town? Scott,

Scott Luton (06:27):

Uh, I’ll tell you, uh, te Taylor the one and only says Good morning from Big D and he means Dallas. No Cowboys comments. Greg

Greg White (06:35):

<laugh>. No reason to discuss the Cowboys. Is there. Tevin

Scott Luton (06:37):

<laugh>. Oh, Tevin, uh, all, nothing but love here from Greg and I, you know, that

Greg White (06:43):

Actually, actually, that was a hard fought game, and it, it was, uh, it was a really defensive game. I think it actually probably helped, and I know this probably hurts Tevin too. Probably help, uh, Philadelphia on how to defend the, you know, uber successful Brock Purdy, because four field goals and one touchdown, right? Exposed a lot of weaknesses in that offense.

Scott Luton (07:11):

That’s a good point. Good point. Uh, all right, well, Kevin, great to have you here. Congrats on your new initiative. We’ll get caught up soon. Uh, yeah, let’s see. Kamisha says, happy lunar year from New York City. Uh, the break is a well deserved break for my dedicated partners in the APEC region. That’s a great way of looking at it, isn’t it, Greg?

Greg White (07:29):

Yeah. And they take full advantage of it. I mean, I, I think it’s, it’s one of those few holidays that has remained in kind of original form, right?

Scott Luton (07:40):

Agreed.

Greg White (07:41):

It’s still a very long term. Uh, break.

Scott Luton (07:43):

Agreed. Uh, Katherine, of course, uh, happy buzz day, everybody. She wants to know who else is joining her on YouTube. Hey, YouTube is an easy way to engage and, and watch all of our shows, especially our live shows. Y’all check that out. Hey, Leah, Luton, love spending a new hour with you guys on Mondays. A lot of love there. <laugh>.

Greg White (08:01):

That’s Scott’s wrong.

Scott Luton (08:02):

That is right. <laugh> not gonna be able to hit everybody, but hello. Also, Greg, we love, uh, your, all of your comments you put on, uh, in, in interaction shows and across social. So hope this finds you well in frigid Wisconsin. I bet,

Greg White (08:16):

Scott, I, uh, so Catherine shared something with us the other day that like 70% of podcast content is being consumed on YouTube now. Wow. No subscription necessary. You know, obviously now the biggest search engine in the world. Great. I mean, most of the top searches are done via video rather than, than just text. Um, so I, you know, I guess it, it’s interesting to see it going that way. And also you can see a lot of our colleagues finally coming along with video in their podcasts as we’ve been doing for years. Now, Scott Luton always ahead of the curve.

Scott Luton (08:59):

<laugh> too kind, too kind, high fives, uh, all the way around. That’s a great call out. You know, I’m a big, big U2 fan. Long before we were doing, you know, what we do here, ATLO chain now, and just the ease and convenience, and you’ll better yet, Greg, uh, you can pay a few bucks a month and you get rid of all the ads. So, uh,

Greg White (09:17):

How few bucks,

Scott Luton (09:18):

It’s, um, goodness. Well, you get like six months free. Uh, and then it’s like 20 bucks a month or something like that.

Greg White (09:26):

Whoa. So that little pitch that comes up frequently when I go to YouTube, I thought they were always advertising YouTube tv. I’ve just quit looking at that. That might be worthwhile. But like any of us need yet another subscription, paid subscription, right?

Scott Luton (09:41):

Right. Amen to that. I

Greg White (09:42):

Feel like I’m probably paying four bucks a month for prescriptions I don’t use. Oh,

Scott Luton (09:48):

That’s brutal. Um, all right. So all that aside, y’all check us out on YouTube. It is easy, uh, to not only consume, uh, our content, but engage and participate. And that’s where the secret sauce is. Okay? So, Greg, getting back to the news of the day, and welcome everybody. I know we couldn’t hit everybody. Uh, really appreciate y’all being with us here every Monday at 12 noon for the supply chain bus. So getting, getting the work, Greg. So I wanna start with the story here from one of your very popular supply chain commentaries. This one, I think, uh, hit last week. So Amazon, as you put it, I think is making brands put their money where their mouth is in a brand new way. So, Greg, tell us more.

Greg White (10:25):

Well, they’re fulfilled by Amazon. F B A service, um, has cost them literally billions in excessive storage costs because of the poor performance of some of their sellers. So their sellers just pile in inventory, um, based on no particular analysis. And, and guess who foots the bill for the, for the storage? Because there wasn’t a, a way for Amazon to evaluate how much storage, uh, particular company undertook all they got paid for. And they get paid handsomely. Let’s not kid ourselves, but all they got paid for was fulfilling those goods. So they have billions of dollars that they are spending for, for storage that is unnecessary. So what they’re trying to do is motivate companies to be more efficient and more, uh, well, I mean, more circumspect about how they determine where they’ll put inventory. So I, I think a lot of companies have, or a lot of people in, in the commentary, they took this as yet another fee by Amazon.

Greg White (11:29):

But in fact, you can actually offset the fee all the way to zero if your forecasting is good enough. So basically, it’s an auction for extra inventory storage. And of course, a lot of that extra inventory storage comes before prime day or prime week. Now, I guess we confess that it’s a whole week. Um, and, and peak seasons and new product introductions and things like that, the hardest parts, by the way, of supply chain and demand to forecast, but the cost. So what you do is the highest bidder gets the, the bo most and the best space, but you can offset that cost by the sales performance for the inventory that uses up that space all the way down to zero if you’re, if you’re good enough. So it’s a, it’s a good motivator. And I wonder if it’s not a motivator that other three pls who have to be chock full of dead inventory, um, will also consider, although some three pls, they do charge you for the space as well as the fulfillment. And I think, um, Amazon took a really, really good approach enabling you to bid for it and, and get the money back, if you know, and, and motivating the right action. So, you know, the goal is to get them people much, much more thoughtful about that inventory, and as you said, put your money where your mouth is.

Scott Luton (12:49):

That’s right. Uh, so y’all check it out. Got a ton. Uh, you know, Greg’s commentary is always spot on, entertaining and, and informative thought provoking, but I loved reading all the responses to your commentary. So we dropped a link to it. Uh, the, uh, the LinkedIn original post, again, uh, it’s based on a story that our friends at Supply Chain dive brought to us here. Y’all checked that out. Hey, one of the quick Amazon related note, Greg, before we move to the next story, is, um, I read that they’re discontinuing their SMILE program, which I’ve been using for years.

Greg White (13:23):

Yes, I saw that too.

Scott Luton (13:25):

That’s your, your quick thoughts there. Well,

Greg White (13:26):

I mean, uh, the last estimate I saw, cause I, I used smile, even though they’ve tried to make it really hard to use, like if you use the Amazon app, it doesn’t go to smile. So you have to actually use a website and you have to make sure you go to smile.amazon.com.

Scott Luton (13:44):

Okay.

Greg White (13:44):

And, and these are your last chances. I think it’s, it’s very soon. It may be as soon as, uh, February 1st or March 1st, that smile is going the way of the one. So, um, but I, I think it must cost them a pile to fund smile. Yep. So they’re giving it the boot, um, which is, is a travesty because I, I, I think it’s a really, really good cause, but it’s 453 million. Wow. Was roughly the number. I think they said,

Scott Luton (14:15):

Well, I’m, I’m disappointed as well. And, uh, I find my, uh, I’ve already been finding myself l using Amazon a little bit less in recent months as we look at some other local options that are really competitive as well. But I was really, I, I wanna side view smile 60 times, I think is the stats just in the last few months. And I love the program, right? Love the program. But you know what, it’s not my money at Amazon. They can do what they want to. Amazon.

Greg White (14:41):

Actually, it’s your money, Scott. You believe me. You’re paying for it. Right?

Scott Luton (14:45):

That’s a good point.

Greg White (14:46):

Point. It’s built into the price that you’re paying. Um, and if you, in the old days, I don’t know how they, they shield it now, but in the old days, you could look at your price on Smile and your price on regular Amazon and see that they were different. Now they mu and that’s probably part of the issue, is they’ve started burying it in the cost. So it’s spread out among everyone. Ah, but when you do that, you start to see that 453 million, uh, margin erosion, it becomes really, really apparent when you aren’t adding it to the cost of the goods. So that’s point, I think it’s point’s, you know, uh, a bit of how they’ve structured it. Uh, but it is a travesty cuz that’s how I, that’s how I do most of my donation to the David Creche Foundation.

Scott Luton (15:27):

Same

Greg White (15:27):

And small charities like that, it’s hard for them to, to generate revenue. And it’s just such a great resource. You just pick one and it’s almost like your own little personal foundation,

Scott Luton (15:39):

Right? It’s just so easy and it’s, and it’s, yeah, such good news and, and instant impact. So, uh, I’m disappointed with that as well. But we’ll see. We’ll see if maybe, um, how it’s all rolled out and, and maybe a a, it’d be great if there’s a substitute put into place, but we’ll

Greg White (15:53):

See. Well, I wonder, so some of your local, um, resources, two things, Scott. One, yes. Consumer Demand is absolutely cratering right now. Um, which we’re gonna discuss when we talk about next topic. No, the topic, well, both of the next topic topics absolutely cratering right now. So everyone’s using Amazon less, which makes that, those kind of costs that much more apparent. And I’m curious about some of these other, um, channels, marketplaces, whatever that you’re using for those things. And I wonder if they have those kind of options, cuz I would definitely switch if they do.

Scott Luton (16:30):

That’s a great point. Great. And, and you’re right. Uh, a little look ahead. We’re gonna talk more about Pulse of the consumer here in just a minute. Uh, before we do quick shout out, uh, Clements MBA student and operations supply chain management, insert for professional internship or job and supply chain. She’s based in Cameroon. And, and folks, she ask, uh, a great question about being bilingual. So, so, uh, folks in the, in the chat, y’all check out what she’s asking. I’d love for y’all to address that and give this your take on the value of speaking multiple languages and getting a, get, getting a role in, in supply chain management.

Greg White (17:03):

Yes. I mean, the short answer is yes. Right. Right. Scott, I think yes, it depends as has has to be part of the answer as to what that, um, as to what that language is. English, yes, Chinese. Yes. Um, and I think a lot of the, you know, other places in the world, there are so many dialects that it’s hard to really do that. Indian Africa have so many different languages and dialects within those languages and, and, um, the Arab Peninsula as well. So it’s harder to do that.

Scott Luton (17:33):

It’s almost like the American South. Lots of different dialects in the American South. Hey, speaking of Greg, I’m giving it away with that. Yeah. Uh, any, any thought about what that is? A shot where that shot was, uh, captured in the, in the grass.

Greg White (17:46):

That has to be Savannah, that’s the bridge, uh, over the Savannah River from, from Georgia to South Carolina. Right?

Scott Luton (17:54):

That is right. And we’re all, we’re still waiting for finalized 2022, um, uh, data, but it will be an all time record in terms of freight coming through the Port of Savannah.

Greg White (18:04):

Talk about, uh, difficult perspective. Um, that bridge has to be 200 feet above the Savannah River. And with that shot, it doesn’t look anywhere near it. <laugh>, that boat is probably three miles south, uh, or east of that bridge. Yep. To, to give it that shot. I mean, you’ll notice you don’t see cars on there, and that’s because, or, or semis. Cause the walls on that bridge are as tall as a semi. So it’s really hard to get a good view going over that thing, isn’t it, Scott?

Scott Luton (18:37):

It sure is. It sure is. Um, I love that color commentary. What a beautiful shot, though. Um, now moving officially to our next story here, as reported by Reuters, and according to data releases by the US Department of Commerce, Greg, the US trade deficit, the delta between imports and exports decreased to 61.5 billion in November. That is a 21% decrease in the biggest drop in almost 14 years. Now, imports fell 6.4%, no doubt, uh, undoubtedly fueled by less consumer demand, which I think Greg already touched on. Exports also fell 2%, uh, the stronger US dollar impacting that figure. No doubt. So, Greg, your thoughts on the trade deficit and, and really, you know, how important is it, uh, that that’s one thing I, I was, uh, looking to get perspective from a variety of true economists. Cause I am not to be confused by an economist, but your, your thoughts in general, Greg,

Greg White (19:32):

Um, yeah. Not a, not an economist <laugh> and, and on this topic, not even right. As often as they’re on the topic of recession, that sort of thing. Much better <laugh>. Um, yeah, I think the lower demand thing, it is what the largest impact was. Which is funny because I had not really thought about that. You know, we even talked about this off air before we came on, but Scott, if, if you have a percentage decrease in a number that’s much larger and a percentage decrease in the lumber, that’s much smaller, it’s very possible to close that gap, right? Because, um, the, the unit volume or the dollar volume is substantially greater, but it is a little bit of a confused market like we’re experiencing in a lot of ways now, right? Lower demand, higher interest rates impacting it. But a stronger dollar, right? Should, well, I guess it, it makes, uh, it makes foreign goods cheaper in the states, which motivates people to move to foreign goods, right? And of course, it makes items, um, exported by the US more expensive, which is part of the downturn. But maybe I’m, I mean, I’m not sure why, uh, why that delta, we really could use a pros, a pros insult here, right?

Scott Luton (20:43):

So if you’re an economist uhhu note, give us your take on the trade deficit. Some of the things that Greg mentioned there. You’re gonna,

Greg White (20:51):

Yeah, a couple things. One, we’re coming off a record, uh, deficit in, in q1. And I, I don’t mean record deficit over the last year, I mean, over the last 10 years, the deficit reached something like negative 275 billion, and it’s coming back relatively quickly. I don’t know how sustainable that is. If as many economists predict, dollar strength will continue throughout the year. Um, and, and as global monetary global, not just US monetary tightening increases. Um, and of course, as the US fades into recess, recession, hopefully fades, not leaps, uh, into recession. Um, but still, I, it, it’s confusing enough that those of us who are not economists could really use some insights. So,

Scott Luton (21:38):

Agreed. So speak up

Greg White (21:40):

Gang. That’s something we talked about before we came on the air too. We want to get an economists and, uh, neutral broad-based economist, not of a company not focused only on transportation or, you know, or even just supply chain. Um, like many of the economists we bring on here, they’re, they’re incredibly valuable for supply chain economics. But, but this is more global. And of course, we all, especially in this day and age, recognize how much global economics impact supply chain as well as the other parts of any business. So, um, gosh, I guess we should just call that an open call for economists, right?

Scott Luton (22:17):

That’s right. And someone that could help me with my accounting homework from college, those Debs pesky debits and credits. That’d be great. <laugh>. Um, all right, so folks, just <laugh> putting a cap on that. Uh, talking about Trade Deficit. We got a link to this article, uh, in the chat as well. I’ll say hello to a couple folks really quick. Kamisha, going back to the Amazon story says, Amazon should consult Warren Buffet and revisit the SMILE model. Looks like they didn’t have long-term vision. Okay, great. Take, uh, there, Kamisha, it

Greg White (22:47):

Is, that is a great take. And it, and it has a lot to do with their 14 core principles as a company, right? Which is a bias for action. Now, one of their other core principles is also be right a lot

Scott Luton (23:00):

<laugh>,

Greg White (23:01):

Right? Well, that doesn’t, it’s not be right always. Of course, you want to have opportunity to, to take some risks and, and maybe some things don’t work. It’s possible they bring it back, or they could construct it in a new mechanism. Mm-hmm. So, um, but before I, I talked to Amazon about what they ought to do to construct it in a, in a new mechanism. I’m gonna call a friend of mine who has a company that, that trades carbon credits and say, you should make this part of your solution. Ah, who you’re out there. Chase

Scott Luton (23:33):

<laugh>. I love that. And Kamisha, great point. Uh, Shelley says, the Amazon prices are like Kelly, I met, this is Kelly Barnards. Find the hat story on expense reports. We’re gonna have to dig that up. Uh, but, but Shelly, uh, hope this, uh, uh, great to have you here as always. Amen. You’re talking about the Ann Rice of Global business with Kelly Barner. I’m gonna check out that episode. Um, let’s see, Peter Bole all night and All Day is back with us. Good afternoon to you. And he says to fellow supply chains, and he weighs in. Thank you very much, Peter, on, uh, Clements, uh, bilingual questions. Excellent. Love that. Uh, Peter, great to have you here as always, Glomar. Hey, good morning from California. It’s been a while. Uh, it has, and hope you’ve had a great start to the year. Okay, so Greg, let’s keep moving, man. Let’s keep moving. Um,

Greg White (24:19):

I’m paying attention, but I’m literally texting Jason right now. Okay. Oh, good. If you see me look down, it’s all, it’s all business related. Okay.

Scott Luton (24:26):

<laugh>. Okay. All right. Good, good, good. Um, folks, quick public service announcement. Psa, I think, right? Got my acronyms right. Um, so leveraging logistics for Ukraine. We talk about this a lot. You know, we’re very proud to be part of this initiative. That’s not even a year old, but Greg, they’ve already moved over 670,000 pounds of vetted, targeted humanitarian aid is gonna get to folks in need. Vector Global Logistics has been leading this. Uh, they do so much good, good work across the globe. Uh, and then of course, they lean on an e an ecosystem, uh, supporters and, and folks that can help, uh, in a variety of different ways. So all that is driven Greg by a monthly planning session. The next one is February 7th at 11:00 AM Eastern time. As we always like to say, even if you can’t donate anything, can’t contribute anything, hey, be a part of the meeting. You’ll walk away a lot more informed, and you’ll be part of that community, even if it’s just good vibes you’re contributing. Greg, your quick thoughts here.

Greg White (25:26):

Yeah, I mean, and it, and no matter what you contribute, it results in something greater than good vibes. I mean, we’ve had people just share ideas that have turned into action that help people over there. Or as importantly, Scott, the people helping the people from Ukraine, which has largely fallen on, uh, Poland and Romanian, some of the other bordering countries around there. So, um, you know, go there and spit out a fractured sentence or maybe even just listen and, and watch it, uh, turn into action. I’ve seen it done. It’s really, really very impressive.

Scott Luton (26:01):

Absolutely. And this is true deeds, not words, 600, over 670,000 pounds. And they also, part of this was they sent uplifting inspirational letters to Ukrainian school children over 2200 letters, Craig. Yeah, that was pretty cool. So folks, it’s all about these not words, y’all check that out. We’ve got a link. Uh, if, if Amanda or Katherine, big thanks to both of y’all, by the way. If y’all drop a link to that next meeting or to the vector page about that, that’d be great. Um, okay. Uh, hey, hey, Natalie, great to see you here today. Welcome back. Always enjoy your perspective. Adrian bets, I think Adrian chimed in on your commentary the other day. Uh, great to see Adrian here today and ask, and you shall find it. The teams put, uh, Kelly Barnard’s LinkedIn, find the hat article right there at your fingertips. I love that, man.

Scott Luton (26:49):

Johnny on the spot, huh, Greg. All right, moving right along. Now, this is not my, this is, uh, ranks last on my list of stories that we’re gonna be covering here today, right? But we’ve all, Hey, look, we got a fa we’ve all seen news time and time again for a couple months now. Uh, and we’re talking about the massive tidal wave of layoffs. But in particular, tech layoffs. The team over at CNN Business is tracking all the developments. Uh, last week, some of the latest companies to announce layoffs were Google’s parent company, alphabet. Well, we can probably drop saying Google’s parent company. Everybody should now know Greg, who we’re talking about with Alphabet, right?

Greg White (27:28):

Well, now that you’ve said that they should. I mean, <laugh>, I assume everyone is listening now,

Scott Luton (27:34):

Right? That’s right.

Greg White (27:36):

Someone you know, isn’t listening. Be sure to tell em.

Scott Luton (27:38):

That’s right.

Greg White (27:39):

Tellem one alphabet equals Google to, you know that if you listen to supply chain, now,

Scott Luton (27:46):

You know that, man. All right. Alphabet, <laugh>, Microsoft Vox Media earlier this month, amongst others. It was Amazon and Salesforce. Now note, the announced layoffs, as I mentioned on the front end, are hitting just about every industry, to be fair. But Big Tech has probably been hit the hardest. And it’s related amongst other things to the massive hiring that of course, tech firms conducted during the pandemic. Right? Uh, but Greg, your thoughts here, you know, technology veteran, startup veteran. Been there, done that so many times. Yeah. Um, your thoughts here on what’s going on in the tech sector?

Greg White (28:20):

Well, so the source that people use is a site called layoffs.fyi. I love some of these new, um, whatever you wanna call those, um, dots <laugh>. Uh, so you can, you have a dot for everything now. Um, we do, and, and I’ve been following that since the beginning of last year when there were 153,000 layoffs in tech. And I wanna be clear about this. That’s just for what they call monitored companies. Um, they don’t monitor every single company. Oh. So if you’re below a certain size, even layoffs.fyi, doesn’t know, can’t track where you, uh, have laid something off. A lot of these companies are public. Some are publicly private, meaning they share, uh, information virtually as, as freely as public companies are obligated to. So they’re easier to track the data for. In fact, the numbers, some estimates say layoffs last year just in the tech, tech, tech sector exceeded 220,000. Wow. So, um, it, and it was not quite at the pace that it is this year. And the pace this year is going to accelerate. I have it on good authority that there are many, many what are called rifts that have not yet been announced. But it is earning season for a lot of public companies, not just in tech. Will this occur as we’ve seen? Cause one of the things that the CNN article talks about is McDonald’s, which people may or may not know. Not a tech company,

Scott Luton (29:54):

Right? <laugh>? Well, uh, speaking of riffs that haven’t been announced yet, my hunt Yes. Is there’s gonna be a certain field goal kicker for a certain professional football team that will probably be looking for their next opportunity very, very soon.

Greg White (30:08):

We can make field goals. He just can’t make extra points.

Scott Luton (30:11):

<laugh>, okay? It’s kinda important. He

Greg White (30:13):

Made two long field goals yesterday. He just couldn’t make an extra point. <laugh>. And the one that got blocked, and te probably knows this already, but the one that got blocked was not gonna make it.

Scott Luton (30:22):

That’s right.

Greg White (30:23):

It was, that’s was already outside the goalpost at the longest scrimmage

Scott Luton (30:28):

<laugh>. I had my protractor out looking at that angle before it got blocked. You’re, you’re dead on the money, Greg. Um, okay, well, kit a kidding aside, folks, uh, we share these, you know, news about tech layoffs because it’s important news development. I’ve seen some great initiatives on LinkedIn in particular about folks pooling, uh, resources for, uh, for those that have found themselves to be victims of all the layoffs, y’all ch y’all, check that out. Lean into your network. You know, if there’s anything, you know, uh, lean into that network you’ve built, you know, make LinkedIn earn the subscription, uh, that you’re probably paying. And if we can help, you know, we’re gonna try to, uh, connect some of the dots for all of y’all out there.

Greg White (31:02):

Hey, can I just wrap that thought up? Cause that’s an excellent point. Don’t get the job you deserve, right? And don’t get, don’t feel like you’re on your own out there getting that job. Do lean on that network. I, I was talking to somebody this weekend and they said they wanted to do, they wanted to get it the honorable way. And I said, forget that. Get it. The way everyone else gets their job is from people who know and trust them, their work and their value. Leverage that a hundred percent. And and you might be surprised who those people are. Don’t miss anyone in your network. If somebody, as, as I have told people forever, it’s not who you know, it’s not what you know, <laugh>, it’s who knows you. Those people that know you can and will be glad to give you a leg up as you, as you go through a search. Um, and the other is that is, is encouraging is that, uh, so many people who have lost their job through these layoffs through last year and into this year have gotten better paying and sometimes even better jobs at other places, right? In very short order. So, uh, make good use of LinkedIn and whatever jobs indeed and whatever other job sites are out there, right?

Scott Luton (32:22):

Agreed. That’s right. Uh, let’s see. T squared, who holds out for, for us on YouTube, along with Catherine now, uh, says that, uh, that layoff service is definitely a former risk heading, hedging, and belated New Year’s wishes to you both T squared. I’ve really enjoyed Thanks all of your perspective, uh, over the last year. Okay. So moving right along. Well, much, much, uh, I call, I’ll call it a brighter note, at least, uh, not nearly as dreary, I’ll call it. So,

Greg White (32:49):

Greg, yeah. Anything’s a brighter note than talking about

Scott Luton (32:52):

Later. That’s right. That is right. Uh, so Greg, uh, you and I were chatting, uh, last week. I think it was, uh, about Intel, C e o, pat Gelsinger, I think I said that right? Making those comments at, uh, DEOs, uh, with regard to semiconductors being more important than oil for the next 50 years. And I’m, I’m paraphrasing that now, you mentioned, and rightly so in particular, about how important it is as to where semiconductors will be built in the coming decades. And that’s where you, you tended to agree with him and, and me and you both as a matter of fact. So I wanna dive into some data from our great friends over at visual capitalists. Folks. If visual capitalists is on your radar of wonderful resources, it should be. Yeah. Uh, so as it relates to the recent computer chip market snapshot, I wanna pull this up here. So look at this again. This is from our friends at Visual Capitalist as of December, 2021. Now, it was about a year old, um, ts uh, mc in Taiwan controlled 54% of the semi-conductor market, uh, companies in, in Taiwan in general, uh, accounted for 63% of the entire market. South Korea, distant second, 18% of the market was Samsung, making up the lions share of that mainland China accounts for 6%. But Greg, as you pointed out, you know, uh, you, we probably should combine Taiwan,

Greg White (34:09):

Might as well be China. That’s right. Cause they could make it China at any moment

Scott Luton (34:13):

That is right. Now. So, so this perhaps doesn’t surprise many people, but some folks may be a little bit surprised. Um, Greg, when we, when you think about those comments from Intel, and we think about moving forward, and of course we all see the, you know, Intel alone, alone has 110 billion of investment is putting into its infrastructure in the US and, and, uh, Europe. Um, what are some thoughts that come to your mind about the semiconductor market?

Greg White (34:40):

Uh, well, let’s start with that 110 billion, and thank you to the American taxpayer for that. Right? Cause some huge portion of that hundred 10 billion is coming from the whatever that is, the CHIPS act. Um, which your legislators are giving to these companies to bring chip making into the states. So let, let’s acknowledge that the other is that part of the problem is not the production. In fact, the greatest portion of the, of the problem is that 80 per 86% of rare earth elements that are required to make chips come from China.

Greg White (35:19):

And you can’t cumulatively because, and it’s not just because they come from China, it’s because they come from the ground in China. Yep. Right. A country which will ruthlessly and environmentally with complete environmental disregard mine anything to make money. Hmm. So, um, not, not only do they have a greater store of these things in the ground, in their portion of the world, but also they’re much more aggressive at mining these things. And rare earth elements are usually in this, in the, uh, outer substrate of the, of the earth, meaning they’re scraping the face of the planet for, um, for these materials. So we can’t make up that difference anywhere or in the accumulation of the entirety of the rest of the world. At least not any stores of rare earth elements that have yet been found. So that’s problem number one too, is let’s acknowledge that. What was his first name? Mr. Gelsinger?

Scott Luton (36:19):

Pat. Pat.

Greg White (36:20):

Pat. Let’s call him Pat. We know him well enough. Now let’s acknowledge that Pat was at Davos, where you have to make, you know, you have to make bold statements to establish yourself as a world leader. Um, two, he’s the CEO of Intel. Um, so his bias is significant. Three, guess what most of the other materials are made of in a semiconductor, if they’re not made from rare earth elements, fossil fuels. Um, and, and four, I I think that where, where they’re made over the course of the next five decades is a more accurate statement. They may, they may become, this whole chip thing may become more important than oil over the next five decades, but it’s not right now. Right. It’s impossible for that to be the case. I don’t know if anyone has seen a recent advert. Uh, if, if you watch American football, you probably saw 20 times this week, <laugh> a recent advert by the fossil fuel industry where they’re showing all the things that just evaporate off your body, out of your house, out of stores and restaurants and things like that.

Greg White (37:30):

If there are no fossil fuels, and you can just see it, the, it’s a really brilliant graphic, what they’ve done, the impact of fossil fuels that we don’t even recognize, right? This zipper, this shirt, right? The band on this watch, your tennis shoes are almost entirely fossil schools. Um, all of things that like that, it’s impossible for anything to have that much importance in the world. Now as regards national security and geopolitical, right? Um, impact, which is largely what he was focused on, it’s possible for it to have much, much more influence over the next decades. Um, but I mean, let’s face it. Um, nobody was complaining about the price of semiconductors at the, at the grocery store, <laugh> or at the gas station, right? Right. And you can’t fill your tank with semiconductors.

Scott Luton (38:25):

<laugh> not yet. At least wait, uh, Nerf, uh, and Nerf may or may not be with us here today. I owned the, uh, LinkedIn article that prompted a a lot of our discussion. Uh, he, he brought water to an oil and semiconductor fight, and he, he’s like, Hey, we gotta be talking water when we talk about what’s gonna impact things the next 50 years. It’s a great comment. Nerf, great comment.

Greg White (38:45):

Yeah, I think so too. I think, first of all, let’s acknowledge that, um, water doesn’t go away. Clean water goes away, right? Right. When water evaporates, what’s it become? Clouds, what do clouds become? Rain. What does rain become? The ocean, the lakes, the groundwater. So, yep. Water never goes away. What we’re really talking about to nerfs point is clean water. That’s right. We’re not running outta water. We’re running outta clean water.

Scott Luton (39:11):

Right, right. Excellent point. Excellent point. And, uh, getting back to the source here at Wallace, great move. Uh, and, you know, and I’m not sharing the be my favorite part about, uh, what visual capitalist does. Cause I’m sharing some of those underlying data within, they, they put on, they, they build the, the, the most artistic and captivating, um, infographics and, and, and of the sort, really based on business information data. So while it’s great to see you, great to have you here with us here today. Okay. On a related note, Greg, on a related note, uh, and, and substrate you mentioned, eh, what a great word, man, I got more, your vocabulary is just like, goodness, the size of my uncle’s Cadillac,

Greg White (39:49):

As long as nobody checks whether I should have used the word substrate or not.

Scott Luton (39:52):

Right? Right. So I wanna move right along, and of course, you know, um, and we’re, we’re not gonna have time to talk about today, but man, China and Taiwan, you know, it’s gonna be really interesting to monitor this in, in the, in the coming months and years. Right. Especially with, uh, semiconductors, um, on our radar.

Greg White (40:10):

Let’s talk about, I’m sorry, I have to talk about that particular point. The official stance of the United States of America, the government of the United States of America, is that China’s claim to Taiwan is legitimate, right? And the official position of, of, um, the US in terms of, regardless of what our president says in his various states of ineptitude, um, the, the official policy or the official position is that we will let them take over Taiwan if they decide they’re going to.

Scott Luton (40:45):

Well, what’s also interesting about that, Greg, is, is strategic, uh, ambiguity. Um, ambiguity is almost the, the defense posturing by the US has been for decades. Yeah. So it, it’s, it’s fascinating on a variety of levels. And, uh, we’re gonna keep, of course, our finger on the pulse.

Greg White (41:02):

It’s tacit approval nonetheless, right? Strategic ambiguity is strategically keeping the American people effectively uninformed on their real, their real policy.

Scott Luton (41:12):

No, you, you’re absolutely right. Cause because, um, there’s that diplomatic stance and then there’s how will the us formally in an policy, uh, driven away react. And that’s where they’re, they’re keeping, uh, that very intentionally, uh, ambiguous, right? Man, if you ask me to say that word one more time, I’m gonna fail miserably. So we’re gonna, I

Greg White (41:32):

Love that term though. I mean, it’s a really cool word to say, or

Scott Luton (41:35):

<laugh>

Greg White (41:36):

Phrase to say. Strategic ambiguity.

Scott Luton (41:38):

That’s right. Strategic ambiguity. We’re gonna find some other examples of

Greg White (41:41):

That that may mean we dunno, but it certainly means you dunno,

Scott Luton (41:45):

<laugh>, right? You know, uh, and Mark says $10 for a bottled water used to draw it from a well for free times. They are changing. Good. Mark, great to have you here.

Greg White (41:55):

Depending on where we’re

Scott Luton (41:56):

<laugh>. That’s right. All right. So I wanna share this graphic here. Cause I wanna move into, um, you know, as, uh, ev market battery associated battery production has been in the news as much as computer chips in recent years. And lots of new plants have been announced in many places. Greg, right here in Georgia, right? Several big projects have been announced. One of the biggest, I think this is still the biggest thus far mm-hmm. <affirmative>, 5.5 billion investment in, in electric vehicle and battery plant being made by Hyundai down near Savannah, right? Savannah’s gonna be a thing of showed here today. But Georgia has announced beyond that, by my rough count, at least over 10 billion in new plants, thousands upon thousands of jobs related to batteries and battery components in the last 18 months or so. Uh, from gr uh, from Augusta to right outside of Savannah to Commerce, Georgia, what, by the way, Greg do folks from commerce, they call ’em commercials. I’ve always wondered about that. But, uh, we’ll save that for another day. Uh, now when you look <laugh>, when you, when you look globally at who controls the battery industry, I’ll check out this graphic here, it shouldn’t surprise anybody. Uh, back, going back to Greg’s perspective,

Greg White (43:08):

This could be the other <laugh>, right? This could be the other graphic

Scott Luton (43:10):

<laugh>. Seriously. So, right. Um, you look at globally, who controls the battery industry, according to data, again, from the visual capitalist China accounts for 77% of the current battery market. Poland and the US come in at a very distant second, 6% each. They even project Greg US battery production capacity as evidence. But all these, all these sites getting broken ground is gonna grow by 10 x by 2027. But even then, in 2027, just four years away, China is still projected to account for 69% of the battery market. I think this is just it. So a lot of it is intuitive, but still, when you stop and think about it, man, your thoughts, Greg?

Greg White (43:52):

Well, I saved this thought till we talked about both of these topics. And that is we need to fundamentally change how we build semi-conductors and batteries for two reasons. One, China controls the means of, of resource and production. Um, and two, uh, this is my opinion, uh, but I think it’s, uh, it has been affirmed to be many people’s opinion. I can’t say it’s a majority or anything, but many people that I’ve talked to we’re trading one way of destroying the earth for another. And that is, we’re we’re moving from fossil fuels to stripping the face off of the entire planet to get these rare earth minerals and to get, get the other elements, lithium and other elements that are required for, um, battery main, uh, creation. So, um, we need to think about how we could build batteries differently to be able to be more environmentally friendly with our solution for the environment.

Greg White (44:51):

All we’re doing really is shifting the, the environmental destruction to different countries and to different areas of the environment from the air to the actual planet itself. And, and I just don’t see it as sustainable. So we have to figure something out. And there are companies out there trying to do, do it fission right. Has become, uh, a topic of late. And I think that I, you know, I don’t know enough about it to know whether that’s doable. There have been attempts made as early as the 1990s to create air, air batteries, a r batteries. Um, and while that didn’t take off, I had a good friend who worked for a company like that, that unfortunately was probably way ahead of their time. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, there has to be some combination of technologies that help us both meet the demands, which obviously are not going down. Um, because medicine continues to keep people alive longer. There are people out there that believe that you’re viable. Life is 140 years.

Scott Luton (45:53):

Wow.

Greg White (45:55):

Trying not to chuckle, um, <laugh>. But, um, and, and, um, so that means the population will grow, though. We will take a pretty substantial dip until about 2050 or around 2050 as the baby boomers die off. And, and the population that is reproducing less and reproducing less often, reproducing fewer children and less likely to reproduce, um, as they continue to slow the popula. Or actually there will be an inversion pop population decline is now inevitable, but Right. That’s right. But it will start to come back. So we’ve gotta think about that. Um, you know, that eventuality. So we will relieve demand to some extent, but remember that the generations that are coming forward, they assume things like technology and, and, you know, um, automotive transport and various things like that. They don’t like the means of, of fuel. And I think most of us would agree with that. We don’t like the means, uh, and the effect of the fuel that we use today, but the, the effect of creating the alternative is equally as destructive to the environment, just not in a way you can see and smell.

Scott Luton (47:05):

Yep. Well said there. And speaking of the population, I think the last time I looked at that data, 2025 is when India will surpass China based on current projections as the most populous country in the world.

Greg White (47:17):

That’s just two years from now.

Scott Luton (47:19):

It’s that’s right. And, and what you also pointed out, Greg, is the shifting demographics, uh, when it comes, especially as it relates and how it’ll impact the Chinese workforce, is something to stop and, and look at too. So y’all check that out. Um, okay, Greg, I cannot believe it. I can never believe when we finish ahead of schedule, especially when we jampacked so much into the buds here today. I’ve got 1247, so, uh, Greg, we get a chance to talk football or Greg White’s weekend, uh, or

Greg White (47:51):

On topic, by the way.

Scott Luton (47:51):

Well, so let’s, let me ask you this then. And, and folks, hey, let us know your highlights of the weekend or, uh, a news story you’re tracking, or, or you, you name it. Uh, we’ll try to reference that over the net last 10 minutes to show. So Greg, you and I had a, a great opportunity along with Amanda and Vicki to go out and take in the Chief’s game against the, um, Broncos a couple weeks back. Um, and one of my favorite things that we had, thanks to your market intel, um, was, uh, that what was the pizza place? That was

Greg White (48:22):

Minsky’s Pizza.

Scott Luton (48:23):

Yes. Minsky’s Pizza, which was founded, I believe, by the same person that founded Godfather’s Pizza. Is that right, Greg?

Greg White (48:30):

Yeah. The original founder of Godfather’s Pizza. That’s right.

Scott Luton (48:33):

So folks sharing a little, little, little travel tip if you happen to be in Kansas City and you got a hankering for really good pizza, especially as I think Greg called it, uh, it’s not thin, it’s not thick, it’s just Right. It’s like the PGE from the old fable. It’s just in the middle. It’s like a nice mid crust. And folks, it was delicious, Greg, your thoughts and what was the best thing you had this past weekend?

Greg White (48:56):

So it was pretty much a whirlwind, uh, this past weekend. Ye uh, yes, if you loved Godfather’s Pizza or even liked it, Minsky’s is close, very, very close to it. Uh, uh, pretty yeasty crust, if anyone is a Godfather’s Pizza fan. Pretty yeasty crust, but, uh, relatively thin, not, not New York, thin and not, um, Chicago thick and closer to the thin side, but yep, very good and good quality ingredients on the pizza. Uh, and a lot of Chiefs fans, if you <laugh>

Greg White (49:30):

Like that. Um, but, uh, this weekend it was pretty quick. Flew in the day of the game, um, went to the game, had dinner at, at my favorite steak restaurant in, in Kansas City, stock Hill. Some of the old standards have gone the way of the one, the Herford House was, um, was top of the list. And there are a couple that I haven’t tried yet, and there are a few that I have tried, and they just don’t cut the mustard <laugh>. Um, so did not get to go have barbecue, but Will this weekend. I’ve manipulated the schedule to be able to do that and, um, or have I,

Greg White (50:14):

Um, but anyway, it was a great weekend. Um, terrible weather. It was cold and first snowy, then rainy, then snowy again. It made tailgating a challenge. Um, but in inside the stadium, it’s almost like there’s heaters inside that stadium, right? I know what it’s, it’s probably all the standing up and yelling, uh, that people are doing that heats that place. So, uh, it was great. It was a great environment. I, I gotta tell you, um, you know, for years when the Chiefs were terrible until about 2016, 17, the Jaguars used to just pound us. Mm. I mean, we could be on a great run, and if we played the Jags or we played the Dolphins, there’s something about Florida teams, it would stomp our guts out. So I have no empathy for Jaguars fans, but they, and, and for a team with a relatively small fan base, at least towards the beginning of the season, right?

Greg White (51:09):

They did turn out, they, they tried to put together their own chant in the stadium, and I think they made a little noise. So I’m impressed and there’s good things coming. Uh, Scott, as you know, Trevor Lawrence is a local boy from Cartersville, Georgia Yep. To the league the same time Justin Fields did from right here in Marietta. Well, Kenne technically, but yep. Um, and, and he showed in incredible, um, boys incredible prowess in a really, really difficult environment. We have melted down the crowd in, in, um, Arrowhead has melted down much, much more experienced quarterbacks, much more quickly, Derek. Right? Um, so I think, I think, uh, there, there’s a good future for Trevor Lawrence, which irks me because that’s all we need is one more great AFC team

Scott Luton (51:58):

<laugh>, right? He didn’t throw that pass right there. That’s Hunter Renfro catching the clenching pass from Deshaun Watson in Clemson’s, uh, 20.

Greg White (52:08):

Oh my gosh, I totally forgotten. He’s a Clemson boy. Yeah, so that’s right. Be a big fan too,

Scott Luton (52:13):

Man. Well, and as is, uh, uh, uh, et tn etn,

Greg White (52:19):

Wow. I hate that guy. Him, man, he impossible to stop. He can catch, he can throw, he can run right through you. It is truly very impressive to watch in person.

Scott Luton (52:32):

Talented. Hey, appreciate that, mark, uh, appreciate it. We enjoyed the discussions. Well, enjoyed all the comments and we couldn’t get to a bunch of them. Uh, but great to have you be a part and look forward to reconnecting with you very soon. Natalie, loved Godfathers Pizza. Uh, I’m with you. I like, I like something, uh, it’s still, this, this chain’s still around. It’s called, uh, Mr. Gaty. We had a Mr. Gaddy’s in Aiken, South Carolina in my formative years. Spent a ton of time there and, uh, it, we lost it probably in the early nineties. I don’t know what year. Um, but Mr. Gaty is still around. It’s got like dozens of franchises, uh, in the American, mainly in the Southeast. Uh, now is also looking forward to a good game. I’m looking forward to a couple good games this coming weekend. Uhoh, this show just went sideways. <laugh>

Scott Luton (53:18):

Not mentioning Clem, said, oh, love it, mark. Love it. Mark is a proud, uh, Georgia Tech, uh, fan and I think alumnus. Um, okay, so Greg, 1253. I wanna circle back to one thing, cause I wanna leave folks on a inspiring, um, engaging note here, right? Yeah. We, we, we mentioned the layoffs. It’s a, we, we talked about on the team call, uh, Friday morning. Uh, it’s a tough time for so many folks out there. Uh, sometimes you’ll see it, right? Um, you’ll see it and, and, and folks will share it with you. And then some folks, of course, will suffer in silence. So, uh, now’s the time to be that good neighbor re lend out a hand if it’s as simple as opening the door for someone or, or saying good morning, right? Maybe giving folks the opposite of what they’re expecting. Now is the time. There’s always a good time to be a good neighbor, right? And someone that helps. But now is certainly a great time, Greg, your final thought, uh, challenge folks with before we wrap here.

Greg White (54:15):

Yeah, I think, look, um, I feel like I’ve been saying this for a long time, but I mean, there are some tough times ahead. Fortunately, the economists, again, almost never right? But still, um, at least they’re taking a shot at it. Say this is gonna be a shallow and short recession. So, um, and it’s a natural cycle. It’s not the end of of the world though. It is apparently gonna be the end of bed and Bo or Bath and Body Works. Mm,

Scott Luton (54:40):

Right?

Greg White (54:41):

Well, bath and Body Works, I wanna make sure I get that right. And Party City, um, both of whom have or will declare bankruptcies very shortly. Um, but it will make the remaining companies stronger, or it’ll make even those companies come back stronger and it will get people to start thinking about efficiency again, just like we led off with, with Amazon. Um, you know, companies get like the rest of us, like us human beings do get fat and happy when times are good. And we don’t tighten our belt until we absolutely have to. And, um, clearly companies are starting to do that. It’s gonna create some struggles, but I, I feel like, you know, the American economy is so resilient whenever big companies start laying people off. More and more small companies come into the economy, and that is the beauty of this country. And even in comparison though, I love and respect all the coun, all the <laugh> good countries out there.

Greg White (55:38):

Um, it, it’s, it’s a uniqueness of what I’ve seen in terms of economies in the US to be, for someone just to decide to put, build a business out of their garage and be able to do it, do it. And I’m do do it. And I’m thinking of hundreds and hundreds of people just that I know that are doing it. And some of ’em aren’t big tech exit companies. They’re the companies they built because they had to sur survive and that, you know, that, um, they’ve turned into something at least enough to support them and in some cases, to create jobs for others, right? So that’s what we need to look out for. If you have ever been inclined to start something yourself, no, it ain’t easy, but it’s, uh, very satisfying to do.

Scott Luton (56:25):

That’s right. And I like Kaha. I like everyone. Shelley’s takes well, uh, Kamisha says, tough time for tech. I predict we’ll see more amazing startups. I completely agree. Kamisha, completely agree. I’ve, I’ve, I’ve, I’ve talked about this, uh, publicly before, you know, I lost my job in the accounting space of all places. And the very next day became an entrepreneur. And that’s what set us on this journey to building, uh, supply chain now and impacting and moving the needle for so many folks out there. So folks, if you get caught up, uh, the sun also rises. Uh, don’t worry, your next opportunity is around the corner, but hey, you gotta go to work. Gotta go to work. Um, alright folks. Now, I, i, if, uh, now is the time, lean in, help out. We, we’ve mentioned leveraging logistics for Ukraine. Join us on February 7th, 11:00 AM Eastern Time. We’ve got a link to that in the comments, but whatever you do, Greg, you know where we’re gonna wrap this thing. I do take an action. Deeds, not words, take action for yourself and also for others, right? Linda helping hand, no matter how big, how small, but whatever you do, on behalf of our entire team here, Greg White Scott Luton, signing off now. Do good, give forward and be the change. And we’ll see you next time. Right back here at Supply Chain now. Thanks

Scott Luton (57:34):

Everybody.

Intro/Outro (57:35):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain now, community. Check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to Supply Chain now, anywhere you listen to podcasts. And follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on Supply Chain Now.