My life is evolving into an episode of PhilTV. Coming home from a client visit, I called to ask my daughter if I should pick something up for dinner. She asked for Vietnamese PHO, something I have also come to appreciate. 

Once I arrived, I took out a large glass bowl to mix all the ingredients. I then remembered that my Vietnamese friends had given “Phil the Money Man” their traditional ghost peppers. The only ghost I know is Casper the Friendly Ghost. I added a thumbnail of this human body numbing delicacy to add a robust flavour as well as potency.

What transpired next is unbelievable unless you were there to witness. When finished eating the noodles, the soup remains. Well, Mr. Magnoli of Calabrese ancestry, thinking he could handle any hot pepper, started sipping the soup. Suddenly, a seed from that ghost pepper lodged in my esophagus. I started convulsing, with fire coming out of my nostrils, I gasped for air, with my eyes popping out of their sockets. My daughter thought I was having a heart attack. I ran to the kitchen sink for water while begging for a glass of milk. 

She handed me a glass of milk, the only remedy to quench the fire from within. It was even spoiled, but who cares when your life is in jeopardy? Peace was restored, and now I am thinking I just might be getting too old to risk eating spicy foods. It’s the third such incident, yet I survived to create more drama in my own life and continue to write to tell about it. 

Speaking about drama, The Big Beautiful Bill has passed, the centrepiece of President Trump’s legacy. This stimulus package has its controversial items, but as I was always told by successful people, “You need to spend money to make money!”. Having said that, one of the most significant benefits will come to those who work in the service industry who collect tips as part of their income. This, along with overtime, will no longer be taxed. Just ask a nurse how much tax is paid when working overtime. It makes the effort seem unworthy, especially in Canada. 

These small incentives create a climate of bringing productivity to a new level. Can you imagine the impact something so small can have on the psyche of a working person? Only the factor of time will be the judge, and the results of these initiatives will be analyzed over and over in many business case studies. 

Consequently, if we look at what Canada is proposing with a Universal Basic Income, paying people to stay home destroys the incentive to work. Just look at what happened to the youth during COVID. Why be productive when I can stay home, play video games, smoke all the pot I want and order Uber Eats? A generation dependent on the government rather than becoming an asset to our workforce. This is why the Canadian unemployment rate is at 7% and is expected to go even higher, this Friday, July 11th. 

The transformation is starting to take place as Non-Farm Payrolls came in flying high! There were 147,000 new jobs in June, versus 110,000 expected. It followed an increase of 144k in May. As a result, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.1% from 4.2%, and wage growth fell to 3.7% from 3.8%, with an estimated rate of 3.9%. 

Some economists have said that the Administration may have even outsmarted them (MSN), concerning the impact of tariffs. With a major deal with China and other countries, all eyes are on the Fed. The inflation they have been expecting has not materialized. Further, the deadline for deals has been extended, making the Fed seem unresponsive to the actual data it depends upon to act. 

After holding the line on lowering interest rates at the June meeting, the FOMC Minutes reveal a 50-point cut by year-end and moderate cuts coming in 2026. Meanwhile, President Trump wants interest rates cut by a full 3%. A war of words that could bring massive changes, also a major threat to the relevance of the USD by the BRICS Nations. 

Click here and listen for yourself:

https://youtu.be/zRNmze7ZEk8