Based on several responses I received this past week, a few readers out there are not in agreement with last month’s publisher’s letter, in which I stated that the U.S. economy is strong and vibrant. I can empathize with those of you who have your doubts, and I do acknowledge there is a fair amount of pain felt throughout our economy.
Change is a difficult burden for anyone to accept, but it’s unavoidable. There are good things that come of change. And crisis is completely avoidable. Avoiding it might seem more certain with a Paul Volker or an Alan Greenspan running the show, and it’s still unclear how the new Chair and member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Ben S. Bernanke will do. Panic won’t solve anything. Instead, let’s look at how we can best ride the change wave.
At CEM, we’re riding that wave by taking advantage of the currency exchange rates the United States has with foreign countries. Last year and again this year, we have beefed up our international circulation. As a result, we have had a significant onslaught of paid subscribers signing up online. At least half of these new subscribers are foreign. The reason is quite simple. Shipping subscriptions overseas is an expensive proposition. There is also no better time to purchase U.S. goods and services than now, CEM subscriptions included.
We’ve also had a good number of inquiries regarding advertising from foreign manufacturers. It’s safe to say that the largest global gaming market is right here in the United States. It’s also been historically the most expensive market to go after. With foreign currencies now buying a lot more here today than what they used to, it’s reasonable to expect this trend will continue until the dollar strengthens as it undoubtedly will.
In times such as these, it’s a good idea to slip on our supply-and-demand glasses and visualize everything as a commodity. This can be applied to overseas patrons of casinos, gaming equipment and equipment peripherals, licenses, patents, labor, companies and money. The question to answer is how we can best take advantage of current changes in the economic environment to grow our positions. We need to understand that some of our positions will weaken, but we can hedge this reality if we don’t panic and spend time looking at and analyzing what we can do to better ourselves.
We might want to reach out to a new group of investors. We might want to refocus on different customers. We might want to change our suppliers. We might want to acquire or divest ourselves of an asset. Whatever course we choose, we should stay cognizant that the U.S. economy is the engine that drives the global economy, and whatever realities are coming into play today will change — the pendulum will undoubtedly swing back.
For savvy businesses, change can be a way to optimize situations in ways that might not have been possible without it. Serious analysis, courage and deliberate decision making will yield strength to those companies and individuals who know how to go after it. Simply sitting by and waiting for change to happen won’t deliver good results in a changing economy.
Peter E. Mead
Publisher,
Casino Enterprise Management
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