5 Reasons for New Year’s Optimism in 2024 - Rob Horowitz

5 Reasons for New Year’s Optimism in 2024 - Rob Horowitz

For the past eleven years, I’ve written a New Year’s column listing reasons for optimism. Click and see how I did last year.  This year, I do the same. It remains the nature of news and opinion writing that positive developments get short shrift.

As we begin 2024, 5 reasons for optimism are outlined below:

 

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·      Nearly 200 nations agreed to accelerate the transition away from carbon-producing fossil fuels at the recently concluded COP 28 UN Climate Summit. This sends an important market signal, likely increasing the already robust investment in renewable energy worldwide—and hastening the retreat of capital from the fossil fuels industry. Speeding up the phase out of fossil fuels is essential to limiting the increase in global temperatures to the 1.5% Celsius or 2.7 Fahrenheit that scientists tell us we must to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.

 

·      Violent crime is on a welcome, strong downward trajectory, returning to the lower levels it was at pre-pandemic.   When the final numbers are totaled, for example, the homicide rate is expected to be 13% lower in 2023 than it was in 2022.  The nation’s cities are experiencing particularly pronounced drops as stepped-up investments in crime prevention, taking illegal guns off the streets, and community policing are paying dividends.

 

·      Latino immigrants show the same patterns of assimilation as previous large-scale groups of immigrants, such as Italian, Irish and Eastern European emigres. As with previous waves of immigration, today’s immigrants come to our nation to seek a better life for their children, succeed in doing so, and enrich us all at the same time.  As Ronald Reagan declared, “If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.”  We are a nation of immigrants, founded on a commitment to shared values and ideals—not to tribal allegiances of nationality and race. To be sure we need stronger border security, but we also need to increase legal immigration. Today’s immigrants are renewing and making our economy and culture more vibrant as waves of immigrants have done throughout our history.  Contrary to the demonization and scaremongering, our capacity to attract and welcome immigrants remains our unique strength.

 

·      Consumer confidence is on the upswing with a significant increase in December. According to Dana Peterson, chief economist of the Conference Board, the uptick “reflected more positive ratings of current business conditions and job availability, as well as less pessimistic views of business, labor market, and personal income prospects over the next six months.”  With inflation down to 3.1% and projected to continue to decline next year and unemployment still at nearly historic lows, the economy is in relatively strong shape; certainly, in far better condition than most Americans perceive. It is the case, however, that on the economy it usually takes perceptions a while to catch up with reality.

 

·      We can look forward to more Bruce Springsteen concerts.  In part due to some rescheduled concerts from 2023, there will be opportunities to see Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band this year.  At 74, the Boss is still delivering at a high level as anyone who saw any of his shows last year can attest. I saw him in Foxborough and in Philadelphia. Both concerts were a treat, combining new songs with vintage ones.   With my daughter and son-in-law, I am looking forward to seeing him once again this coming August at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. If you have never seen Springsteen in concert, I highly recommend making 2024 the year to find out what you’ve been missing.