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Hey Jim. Again, great presentation! Most telling for me was your comment about how inflation creates an illusion of wealth for most people! Right you are. And when equity prices balloon, most people think they are richer than they really are. And yes, the illusion of wealth undermines rational economic behavior. This feeling even affects conservative investors like me, who has endured the ups and downs of the energy business as a consultant. We talked about me wanting to build a much bigger home when I was up in Jackson. I would have had to sell equities to pay for it! Can you imagine what the cost would have been by now, what with the inflated prices of everything? Then I would pay more in property taxes, mostly to support the school system where I don't have any children attending! Of course let's don't forget the higher utility bills, maintenance and cleaning costs! You know I'm a recreational pilot. I also thought about buying a plane, because I had this belief that I couldn't find one nice enough to rent from time to time! Again, I would have had to sell equity holdings at inflated prices to buy a plane at an inflated price! Of course the market has started correcting before I had the chance to sell anything to pay for the luxuries that I "never before imagined" (quoting you). Having just concluded discussions with the owner of a flying service here in Houston who provided me with the facts associated with aircraft ownership vs. leasing, I now know I just avoided a very bad financial decision to sell equities and buy an airplane! I believe everything eventually reverts to the mean and within the next year or so, all these "want to have" purchases by people (many financed by excessive borrowing) will end up being less valuable and include a higher carrying cost! I'm glad I dodged this one! Thanks for all the good information and thoughts.

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