President Steven Utroska presided over today’s meeting. Joey Johnson gave today’s invocation. Cole Gressett led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Thanks to Mark Killingsworth who served as our greeter today.
Mike McPhail stood in for Brandon Hodges and thanked those who helped with today’s meeting and then introduced today’s guests. Scott Hummel had Mason Cunningham and Scott Molaison as his guests. They are both William Carey University business major students. Katie Anthony had Lindsay Molley as her guest today. Jerry Gilder was joined by his wife, Nancy and son, Tim. Mallory Donald had Stewart Deen as her guest. Stewart has applied for membership in our club.
Steven then introduced Eric Rodgers and his sponsor Joey Johnson. He also introduced Marc McMillian and his sponsor Steve Ramp. Both were inducted into club membership.
Eric is a native of Hattiesburg. He graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi, is married and they have one son. He works for Morgan Stanley.
Marc is a native of Magee. He and his wife relocated to Hattiesburg a few years ago. He attended Delta State University where he played baseball. He is employed with attorney Robin Roberts.
Erin Granberry then presented two Paul Harris Fellows. Allen Anderson has earned his first PHF. Jerry Gilder presented his son, Tim as another Paul Harris Fellow.
Cole Gressett then introduced today’s guest speaker, Brady Raanes. Brady is tasked with researching and organizing the content for Domino, a new podcast that he and Jim Grenn put together with the assistance of Ortego Communications.
Domino is a podcast, which Brady describes as radio on demand. Rather than attempting to use Domino to generate money, they wanted to build a content driven podcast. They have completed season one which contains 9 episode each of which is about 30 minutes in length. You can find Domino using the podcast feature found on your smart phone.
Brady shared episode two from season one. He talked about how the economy is almost always tied to the success or failure of individuals. People who live in a county with a high GDP live longer than someone from a country with a low GDP. The same is true with college attendance.
In the late 1970 Mexico discovered a large oil reserve off shore. They began borrowing heavily to build the necessary infrastructure to collect the oil. Their country began to grow and expand. However, the type of loans they were taking out were difficult to pay back.
Meantime, inflation was ramping up in the United States. Interest rates were raised 4% in one day. Rates reached the high teen percentages. Those interest rates were, in essence a war that was being waged against Mexico and now Latin America. In 1982 Mexico had to default on their debt. The International Monetary Fund was created and loaned money to help countries that were having economic trouble. They loaned Mexico more money. However, the IMF required the government to maintain a balanced budget. In order to do that, they had to cut many programs and services. The living conditions in Mexico declined sharply and their peso was devalued. More money was loaned, and conditions continued to worsen. By the middle 1980’s immigration into America from Mexico peaked at historically high levels. The 1980’s is known as the lost decade in Latin America.
Additionally, the drug trade was booming. Drugs were about the only way a person could make a living in Mexico during this period. There were more drugs leaving Mexico than oil. The incarceration rate in America spiked and the government began the war on drugs to slow the drug trade.
Finally, President George H. Bush appointed Nicholas Brady as Treasury Secretary. Brady recognized the problem and developed a plan to help get Mexico back on its feet. He restructured their debt, refinanced it and forgave some of what was owed. Latin America began to grow once again.
According to Brady that is a sample of the kind of content that you can get on Domino. He encouraged members to take the time to listen to the other eight episodes. They’re still thinking about a season today.
Steven thanked today’s speaker and then adjourned the meeting with our motto, Service Above Self.
Steven thanked today’s speaker and then adjourned the meeting with our motto, Service Above Self.