A Retrospective Look

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

November 4, 2024

Tomorrow is Election Day, and I hope you and your colleagues will go out and vote (if you have not already done so). And while each of us value different qualities in public servants, some characteristics stand out.

For some voters, they might look for perceived leadership skills, such as oratory and public speaking abilities, consensus-building experience, and more. If you’ll indulge this former city councilman and mayor for a moment, I would like to share with you the one trait I value in public officials perhaps above all others: a willingness to look at existing programs and services and clearly measure how effective they have been, rather than constantly trying to create something new.

Administrative departments and agencies of government spend a lot of time implementing programs that were designed decades ago, and while they were constructed with the best of intentions, some programming may be irrelevant today or in need of reforms. Looking retrospectively is healthy and a good thing. Policymakers seldom, if ever, anticipate every contingency with accuracy, and they should be forgiven for mistakes. However, I’ve never been part of a “perfect law or regulation," and the “test of time” only exposes strokes of genius or flaws more openly. We can learn a lot by looking retrospectively, and I appreciate those elected officials who spend time doing just that.

News You Can Use

We started the week this morning with factory orders from September, followed tomorrow with U.S. trade deficit results from September too. There is nothing of significance scheduled for Wednesday, but Thursday brings us an all-important decision by the Federal Reserve on interest rates, followed by remarks from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell later that afternoon. We wrap up on Friday with a sneak peek at consumer sentiment.

BioNTech, Chemours, Constellation Energy, Freshpet, Boise Cascade, Cabot, Hologic, and Voya Financial are among a long list of companies with earnings calls today. The Tuesday call lineup includes Archer-Daniels-Midland, DuPont, Henry Schein, LGI Homes, Noble, and others. On the schedule for Wednesday are Brinks, CVS Health, Enovis, Johnson Controls, AMC Entertainment, Deluxe, Fair Isaac, Lyft, Zillow, and ZipRecruiter. Air Products, Edgewell Personal Care, Krispy Kreme, Under Armour, and others round out the end-of-week schedule.

Michael J. Quaranta

President

Delaware State Chamber of Commerce

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