Bank Directors Seminar, Coeur d'Alene, ID

Making America Great Again – “America’s problems are self-made and can’t be solved by wringing the necks of the Chinese and Mexicans until they give us back our greatness.” – Holman Jenkins, WSJ, May 7, 2016. – “Community banks play big role in making America Great.” – Scott Hein, CSBS Bank Directors Seminar, 2018

U.S. Economy has finally fully recovered from the “great recession” of 2007-2009 – The negatives of Dodd-Frank and Affordable Healthcare Act are behind us to a great extent now, so the headwinds are not as fierce. – The tax reform and regulatory relief are providing needed tailwinds. – The threat of a trade war and ever escalating tariffs is a threat. – Still, the U.S. economy has been adding over 200,000 new jobs each month and the unemployment rate is 3.9% today. – We don’t feel really good about this, as the growth has been low by historical standards and median wages are not growing. – In addition we are producing more goods and services at the same rate we are adding jobs resulting in low increases in labor productivity.