I have written in the recent past about what the COVID-19 pandemic has left permanently etched in our lives and culture, and as the scourge drags on through these summer months, it is starting to extend its cultural tentacles, reaching other areas of our lives and undoubtedly changing them forever. Two of the greatest truisms that have come out of…
Read MoreTag: Pierre G Villere
What Lies Ahead: Lessons from the Hurricane Katrina Recovery
By: Pierre G. Villere At this writing, the COVID-19 pandemic just drags on and on.
Read MoreThe Longer This Goes On, The More It Will Hurt
By: Pierre G. Villere Last month, I began this column by saying that I was speechless and in a state of shock. I still am.
Read MoreThe World Turned Upside Down
By: Pierre G. Villere I am speechless, and in a state of shock.
Read MoreThe Goodwill Conundrum
As we all know, the construction materials industry, which in part includes construction aggregates, ready-mixed concrete and concrete products, has been consolidating rapidly over the past three decades, and the pace of that consolidation shows no signs of abating anytime soon. So it is worth understanding how purchasers in our industry, usually large multi-nationals, treat a purchase of a smaller…
Read MoreHow Jobs Continue to Drive Our Economy
2020 is here, and now we are starting to read some of the statistics that are emerging as the various agencies of the federal government release accumulated data from all corners of our economy for last year, as well as the decade that just ended.
Read MoreTime
By: Pierre G. Villere It’s 2020. Goodness, where did the year go? I am positive the boxes of Christmas decorations that came out of the attic did not have any dust on them, as it seems they just went back up there weeks ago, not months. But most importantly, we stand on the starting line of the third decade of…
Read MoreThe Coming Decade
by: Pierre G. Villere In the mid-1990s, my wife and I attended a conference in Aspen, Colo., a voluntary effort on our part to hear one of the great thinkers and futurists of the last third of the 20th century who was shaking up politics and policy from Capitol Hill to Sacramento, and every place in between.
Read MoreNo Relief in Sight for the Tough Labor Market
By: Pierre G Villere The future holds great promise, as technology continues to disrupt traditional norms and methods in the construction industry in general, and in the aggregates industry in particular. The future for driverless haul trucks, robotics that will replace traditional loaders, use of drones for multiple functions at quarries operations, and all manner of improvements in materials crushing…
Read MoreThe Wealth Gap Expands and Consumer Debt Pinches Housing
By: Pierre G. Villere The expanding wealth gap in America may explain why Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have centered their presidential campaign messages on this topic. Indeed, after studying these metrics, I was surprised by what I found.
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