Every year about this time, my friend Tom Perić asks me to pen a column laying out what I think may happen in the forthcoming year. Most years I’m comfortable in my assessments, barring anything drastic happening, because Congress only has a limited time to act (and with 2018 being an election year, they have even less) due to the setting of the regulatory calendar for planned actions.
I recently watched an episode of the television show, “60 Minutes,” which talked about America’s addiction to mobile devices. It spurred some internal thought about my habits and the attention spans of my fellow humans, which seem to be growing shorter. With shorter attention spans and an economy that is more and more based on fulfilling our impulse needs, it seems as if everyone is rushing to be first, even if that means sacrificing quality.
By the time you read this, we will be in the closing days of the 2016 campaign. As someone who has eagerly followed campaigns, elections and government for some time, I have to say that this campaign has at times sucked the life out of me.
As the eyes of the nation are focused on what we could call an interesting campaign for the White House, it is worth noting that there is still a current administration in the White House, and if the history of recent departing presidents holds true, the last few months will be filled with regulatory action.
With a little less than one year left until the 2016 elections and a little more than one year left in President Barack Obama’s final term in office, it’s time to take a look at what 2016 may have in store for HVACR distributors and our industry at large.
At a recent cookout I attended, the subject turned to the demotion in June of NBC’s Brian Williams from the anchor desk of the NBC Nightly News to the vast hinterlands of cable news and MSNBC. This occurred after the revelation that he fabricated multiple stories and that his “first hand” accounts of what happened were about as truthful as the score keeping at a golf scramble.
There has been much discussion, including in the pages of this magazine, about the dynamics in Washington, D.C., with the 114th Congress being under the control of Republicans.
I regularly watch the television show Shark Tank. The basic premise involves entrepreneurs going before a group of potential investors, or sharks, who are considering investing in their company.
Many people use the month of December as a time to think about their New Year’s resolutions and changes that they will be making the following year. Most of the time, these changes and resolutions are voluntary. However, for HVACR distributors, change is coming in 2015 courtesy of the federal government, and when Uncle Sam dictates change, there isn’t a heck of a lot to do but acquiesce.
