Tuesday, September 1, 2009

One year!

Today marks the first anniversary of this blog. I started it on Labor Day weekend last year, at the insistence of my son-in-law who, being a blogger himself, walked me through the setup procedure. He also took the photo that I use as a banner. In fact, he gave me several to choose from. The shot I've been using for the past year was taken during some stormy weather, and I thought that was appropriate given the travails of the market. I'm thinking of switching to a more placid photo soon, to celebrate the exit from recession and the return to more normal market conditions—soon, but not just yet.

The blog has grown from nothing to a readership that now ranges from 700-1000 visitors each business day. It's accumulated 347,000 page views, about 1,000 per day on average. I've made 800 posts, and have been fortunate to receive thousands of thoughtful comments and questions but only a handful of distasteful comments.

My motives are several. I've wanted to provide a forum for supply-side ideas. My years of experience have convinced me that the supply-side framework works pretty well for analyzing the economy and financial markets, yet few people subscribe to it or fully understand it. I've wanted to give something back to the world in my own small way, and so I have eschewed advertising or subscriptions. I wanted a hobby, and I was lucky to find something that entertains me and also helps others. I needed to follow the market in order to manage my own portfolio, and the discipline of blogging has helped me focus on things much better. That's been extremely important this past year, since mistakes could have been extremely costly.

My political orientation is libertarian, and I will disparage any politician, regardless of party, who promotes policies which I find antithetical to free markets and individual liberty. I think every investor should pay great attention to politics, since good or bad policies can make a huge difference to the economy and the markets.

Finally, my thanks to the many loyal readers and commenters. If there is one thing that I miss in retirement, it is the ability to travel the country and interact with clients that in turn were in charge of managing huge sums of money. I have always learned a lot by having to answer tough questions, and I now receive those almost daily.

15 comments:

Donny Baseball said...

Congratulations Scott. In a year's time you have built CBP into by far one of the most educational reads in the economics/markets sector of the blogosphere. Given your motivations, you've achieved remarkable success.

Vespasianus said...

Many congratulations Scott. I think you can be quite satisfied and all your readers grateful for your insight into economy and finance, specially in countries where supply side economics and libertarian ideas are endangered species, often deemed as "imperialism", "economic fascism" or worse epitetes .

Muchas gracias por tu generosidad.

Cabodog said...

Scott, through last winter's tumultuous markets I found myself reading -- and re-reading -- your posts to fight the growing sense of panic that threatened to embrace me.

In my mind, much of the panic was due to the almost instantaneous nature of internet news; in the past, the mainstream media and the inherent delays in news dissemination served to act as a circuit breaker of sorts. I see that as a downside to the internet; on the upside is the access to incredible information such as your excellent posts.

Your generosity in sharing your thoughts/opinions/ideas is greatly appreciated and I'd like you to know the positive effect you've had for me as a regular reader. We often go about out daily affairs without stopping to realize the effect of our efforts on others; just letting you know that beyond appreciation, I'm thankful for your efforts.

Public Library said...

Congratulations and happy first birthday!

brodero said...

You have done an excellent job...Congratulations!!!

Dead Cat Bounce said...

I echo the sentiments of gratitude for your generosity. I am convinced this country will not achieve real political and economic reform without statesmen such as yourself educating people and influencing the dialogue online, where there is a choice against being spoon-fed lies and soft analysis by the mainstream media. For as long as we continue to collectively ask the wrong questions, we can never hope to arrive at positive solutions. All but stripped of the ethos of the Constitution and the great men and women who have made our lives possible, I am grateful those such as yourself are willing to position themselves in the forefront of the battle to reintroduce logic into the economic and political debate.

Also, thanks for the market analysis! As enjoyable as it is insightful.

Paul said...

Thanks for your efforts, Scott. Your posts have taught me alot and you kept your head while everyone around us was losing theirs.

Unknown said...

I want to congratulate you and thank you for bringing such great insight into the workings of the markets and economy. Too often, we forget Econ 101 and listen to the noise on TV, which tends to addle the brain.
I had an epiphany of sorts when I read Robert Ringer's Restoring the American Dream in 1979 -which led to reading William E Simon's A Time for Truth, and, from there to Hayek. All these writings are especially true today and I recommend them to all who hate the path of deficits and socialized "capitalism" we are on.
You have reminded me of these books and I have reread them.
Thanks

Jay Norman Davis said...

Many more and THANK YOU>

Unknown said...

Happy First Birthday CBP!! Congratulations Scott! I consider your blog to be the most important economics and market blogs! Your insights into this financial crisis has helped me immensely by helping me recover my losses in the market. You have done an excellent job and I am most grateful for it. Thank you very much for sharing with us all.

Unknown said...

Way to go Scott. I enjoy the blog (only one I read). Calafia Beach gives you many insights to the outside world..

Unknown said...

Scott, that's for a great and informative read! I look forward to your posts every day and appreciate the lessons you've shared with us.

狂猪 said...

Thank you Scott for your generosity. When I was in school I've narrowly focused on engineering. I've since realized that was grossly insufficiently. I've learned a lot from your blog.

I think right now is absolute the best time to learn about economics, finance and investing first hand! Current events are making the subject matters incredibly interesting even if last fall was a quite painful! Your generosity is particularly timely!

Unknown said...

Congratulations and happy anniversary, Scott. As I've mentioned before, your comments and analysis helped me steer my company (and keep perspective) during the early part of this year. For that, I am very grateful.

Scott Grannis said...

Many thanks for all the nice comments!