It comes around every couple of years, and we have become accustomed to it thinking that it will keep coming around every couple of years, but oh my, it costs a city A LOT of money to host an Olympic Games.

I don’t want to get into the numbers too deep here, but invite you to visit a recent CNN article if you want to see just how wild these numbers can get, especially when comparing final costs to estimates and budgets.

When thinking about how much of a losing venture this seems to be, my mind immediately went to the longer-term ramifications of the Games to try to soften the blow. The biggest one of these seemed to be driving more people to visit the city in the wake of the competition. After all, it’s not as if Paris is some unknown city, but you’ve definitely thought about it more in the past week than usual. And with that front-of-mind positioning must come more visitors. But according to the CNN article, there are enough similar negative results to offset these that it does not end up being a win in the long run.

So why do cities still do this?

This seems to be a difficult question to answer, but it’s not as if the Olympics were ever THAT much in danger of not occurring.

The ability to think through these ongoing financial problems is shining bright (almost like a torch one may say), though, before they become insurmountable. The International Olympic Committee has even put out its own list of recommendations to reduce the impact of hosting the Games and making it a more viable opportunity for more cities. To follow along with these, Paris only built one long-term new sports facility for the current competition. Looking ahead to 2028, Los Angeles is even going to hold some events halfway across the country in Oklahoma instead of utilizing new construction.

When looking at how to make even really big things happen, there are always chances to try new tactics. How well any of these will work out remains to be seen, but there is no need to just give up. That would feel like a weird outcome no matter how little one cares about actually watching any of the competition (even archery) or its accompanying ceremonies.

So let there be a lesson in this that no matter how bad things get, it can still be worth trying something new as long as you seek a continued existence.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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When the Inflation Reduction Act was passed with increased funding for the IRS, the agency promised that it was going to pursue high-wealth entities that were not fulfilling their tax obligations. This apparently has been working well as last week the IRS announced that collections from these activities have surpassed the $1 billion mark.

When breaking down tax totals, those totals can start to seem astronomical. For on the one hand, getting a billion dollars sounds great. The government should definitely be able to do something with that much money, right? (Feel free to insert your own joke here). The agency has collected this money, however, by focusing on only 1,600 individuals with incomes of more than $1 million per year and who owed more than $250,000 in tax debt. When such a small number of individuals can garner that much money, it seems that this tactic may just be working.

IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel only agrees:

“With this collection activity, the IRS passed an important milestone in our effort to improve compliance and ensure fairness in the tax system. Our increased work in this area means these past-due tax bills from high-end taxpayers are no longer being left on the table, like they were too often in the past.

“Years of funding declines meant the IRS couldn’t get to money that we knew was owed, but we simply didn’t have the resources or staffing to collect. Funding from the Inflation Reduction Act is reversing a decade-long decline in our compliance work, including increasing our compliance work involving the wealthiest individuals and groups with tax issues. The collection results achieved in less than a year reveal the magnitude of what can be achieved over the long run as our Inflation Reduction enforcement continues to ramp up in the months ahead.”

Of course, this is not going to end the debate over how much money the agency should receive in the future. That push and pull along party lines is about more than the funding’s effectiveness. I did, however, feel that it was important to point out that so far it is proving effective. Of course, questions remain about if the effectiveness would decrease with time. For now, however, let’s give credit where it’s due. It is still a BILLION dollars after all.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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No matter how much you believe it or not, the ideas that the younger generation does not want to work, do not make good workers, etc., are ubiquitous enough that we have all heard it. So I am here to bring some good summer news via a CNN article that says maybe things aren’t as bad as they seem. And maybe in the end the answers behind this apparent trend are simpler than they seemed.

First, things just seem to be getting better as we move further away from COVID.  The teens of working age now were not of working age when the pandemic started. And remember what it was like being a teen? A lot of it stunk. Now imagine going through that time of life as the world shuts down around you? Yeah, maybe getting a job wouldn’t have been the first thing on your mind either.

And even beyond any person’s or generation’s feelings about work, there is the matter of parents pushing kids to get a job, even temporary seasonal ones over the summer. When the outside world felt so scary, much of that impetus would have gone away, too.

Next, pay increases are also adding to the younger people going to work. Imagine that, actually feeling of value when you do something has a positive impact.

At the same time, however, the article notes the continuing inability to fill some spots, including lifeguards. But can’t the same issues be at work here? If someone is looking for 16- to 18-year-olds to fill such positions, that means they were 12- to 14-year-olds in the summer of 2020 and it’s definitely understandable that many in that range may not have been out continuing swimming lessons at that time and staying on the path to potentially becoming a lifeguard. A current lack of applicants then may just make sense.

Overall, no matter the answers, these clearly aren’t really easy ones and there’s not one overarching conclusion. Even if we are not talking about a wild generational and/or cultural shift, we are talking about a global pandemic. I do think, however, there is a lesson here to not cast our lots too strong in any one spot. If we are open to things evolving, then we can see them as they change instead of thinking we already have the answers.

And as they do, maybe all the pools will even be open again in a couple years.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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I am writing this during the July 4th week, which in many ways feels like the pinnacle of summer. Sure, Memorial Day and Labor Day traditionally mark the endpoints of the summer season, but there is something different about this holiday. This may be for no great reason than that school is over for everybody now, so more family vacations happen, but hey – welcome to this wonderful time of year anyway!

I have written in the past about how important it can be to take some time away from your work and business – even when you feel like you can’t. But let this holiday allow me to reiterate that and hope that this finds everyone at least close to being able to enjoy some time off. After all, that time away can help you think of things in a new way when you get back.

As a possible bit of warning against not thinking differently – the parent company of Redbox has recently filed for bankruptcy. If you didn’t hear about this, it is probably because the news hits most people with a shrug as we are not surprised at the weak hold of physical media. In fact, the most surprising thing to me about this story is that the company purchased Redbox for $325 million only back in 2022, which seems plenty late enough to have thought this might not be a good idea.

Coming in second place for surprising notes, though, is that Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment is the owner of Redbox and its publishing arm still publishes those books. It also has the website domain chickensoup.com, so credit to them for being able to grab that one.

That Soup had some trouble with its attachment to the old, but another is branching into new territory as Ramen purveyor Cup Noodles is releasing a Campfire S’mores flavor.

And okay, I know your first reaction was at best a raised eyebrow and at worst a slight retch, but come on, can you really say you’re not curious at least a little bit curious?

For see, new things can break through even if they don’t sound the best to start. So give yourself the chance this season to take a break from your same old and return energized and possibly with some new ideas that just may take hold and be better than what you were doing before.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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