Al Charlson is a North Central Iowa farm kid, lifelong Iowan, and retired bank trust officer. The Waverly newspaper group previously published a version of this commentary.

Based on the standard measures I learned to watch over 30 years as a trust officer, the U.S. economy is in good condition. We have completed seven straight quarters of real GDP growth. Corporate profits after taxes in the first quarter or 2024 were 6.4 percent higher than a year earlier. Monthly job growth remains strong, and unemployment has been 4 percent or lower every month since January 2022. 

In this economic environment, investment markets are favorable. Stock market indices are at or near record levels. Long-term bond yields have returned to rational levels, and certificate of deposit interest rates are the highest in years. My wife’s and my personal finances are also in good condition.

Al Charlson is a North Central Iowa farm kid, lifelong Iowan, and retired bank trust officer. The Bremer County Independent previously published a version of this commentary.

From the time our forefathers broke the prairie sod and began building communities Iowans have been known as hard workers who took pride in a job well done. Stories of my Norwegian immigrant great-grandfather highlight his ability to stack grain bundles perfectly to protect the shock from rain, and to plant corn in rows straight as an arrow.

We recently had windows replaced and our house re-sided by a north central Iowa contractor whose reputation was endorsed by a family member. The contractor has a branch in central Iowa, and a Des Moines area siding team was assigned to our house. The entire team was Hispanic; the only one I could communicate with was the team leader, José. 

Al Charlson is a North Central Iowa farm kid, lifelong Iowan, and retired bank trust officer. The Waverly Democrat previously published a version of this commentary on February 28.

Iowans get it. We understand that we have to pay for the public services needed to maintain the quality of life we want for ourselves and our neighbors. A fundamental responsibility of our elected leaders at all levels is to maintain a system of state and local taxes which will raise the funds needed and do so in a way that is fair.

As discussed in an earlier column, major changes now being considered in the Iowa legislature would fall short of raising the revenue needed. 

The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency’s Analysis of Governor Kim Reynolds’ Budget Recommendations for Fiscal Year 2025 (which runs from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025) shows that if her plan were enacted, general fund spending would exceed tax revenue by $625 million. The governor intends to use surplus carryforward to pad the total available revenues to spend next year.

Al Charlson is a North Central Iowa farm kid, lifelong Iowan, and retired bank trust officer.

Financial panics are not rational. The federal debt ceiling is an arbitrary artificial limit. The U.S. economy would not fundamentally change on the day the Treasury could not send Social Security checks or military payroll because it was barred from borrowing to pay the bills Congress has already approved. But world financial markets would freak out.

The international financial market system is an extremely complex and intricate web of interrelated understandings, agreements, contracts, checks and balances, guarantees, regulations and laws. The system is normally resilient and redundant enough to handle losses which regularly can and do occur. For many decades, the U.S. dollar has been the linchpin of the system, and U.S. Treasury notes and bonds have been considered the basic risk-free asset class. Essentially, the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government has been and remains the cornerstone of the worldwide financial system.

Al Charlson is a north central Iowa farm kid, lifelong Iowan, and retired bank trust officer.

The Iowa legislature’s 2023 session has been a dismaying mix of noise and fireworks, combining “debate” over divisive social and cultural issues with fundamental changes in our governing structure that slide through without adequate review and examination. 

Senate File 478, a bill designed to “hog-tie” our state auditor, is a strange combination of both.