Musings from the CU Suite

Compiled by Anthony Demangone, Powered by NAFCU

"The worst loans are made in the best of times." 

Those words came from Dr. Elliot Eisenberg, an economist who tracks the financial services industry. He was speaking at NAFCU's Lending Conference this week in St. Petersburg, Florida. 

He was speaking about loans, but I think that phrase works in many different areas of life. When things are going well, something in our nature tries to convince that the good times will keep rolling. We loosen our standards. We let our risk appetites get warped. 

And when bad times come, as they usually do, we are caught flat-footed.

I'm not promoting the idea of pessimism. But realism is a trait often undervalued.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. Here is this week's reading pile.

• NAFCU's post-election advocacy begins. (NAFCU Today)
• The tight labor market continues. Weekly unemployment claims dip to 214k. (Calculated Risk)
• Things you see during every market correction. (Wealth of Common Sense)
• The kinds of data scientists. (HBR)
• Three things great leaders do that average leaders do not. (Leadership Freak)
• How the lives of the middle class have changed since 2016, by the numbers. (NYT)
• To make a great presentation, distill your message to just 15 words. (HBR)
• If what you're doing isn't working. (Godin)

PS: Last weekend, I had the honor of attending the Army - Air Force game at West Point. Seeing how Monday is Veteran's Day, I thought I'd share a few pics from the weekend.