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Many of your clients are successful business owners, accomplished professionals and other well-educated people who are used to being in control. They can go anywhere and do anything they want. As a trusted advisor, you need to strike the balance between letting them be in control and, at the same time, guiding them to a set of options thats going to come up with the best possible result.

As a good CPA, youre essentially a Libertarian Paternalist. A what?

A libertarian is someone who believes at their core that people should be free to do whatever they want to do. A paternalist is someone who is dedicated to helping people and guiding them.

As Nobel Prize-winning economist Richard Thaler explains in his book "Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness," people should have total free choice, but at the same time, they can be nudged in the right direction to guide them to better decision-making.

The way this relates to our profession is that good accountants are what Thaler would call choice architects. While we live and breathe taxes, balance sheets and accounting all day long, most clients dont understand these things. But when you give them choices about what they want to do (within your field), most of the time they have no idea what to do. Our job is not to overwhelm clients with choices; its to provide them with options in the form of advice.

Many of your colleagues have trouble wrapping their heads around this notion. Theyve spent so many years asking clients: Mr. and Mrs. Jones, what do you want to do here? Clients dont know. Theyre not paying you for options. Google delivers millions of options for free. Theyre paying you to be their choice architect. Instead of asking clients what they want to do about a difficult financial decision, you should be taking the lead, as in: Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, I think A or B will be your two best options, I would do A if I were you. What do you think?

Youre being a libertarian in the sense of: I guide, you decide. Youre telling clients: We should do whatever you want to do. My job is to cipher through the data and put the best options in front of you that I possibly can. Youre being a paternalist in the sense of telling clients: I want to try to move you in the right direction based on the best information we have at hand.

For more about guiding clients through tough decisions, see my article "Dont Succumb to Decision Fatigue."

I guide, you decide

When youre selling professional services, at the end of the day, your client is the boss. They can do whatever they want to do (i.e., libertarian). At the same time, its your responsibility to put good decisions in front of them that will nudge them responsibly toward making the right decisions.

When youre meeting with a client and an important decision is on the table, dont put yes/no choices in front of them. Always make it A or B. I like to take it a step further by saying, In my opinion, based on knowing what youre trying to accomplish, this is what I would do and here is why. Lets go with A. But, if I misunderstood your situation and we need to reestablish your goals, lets go ahead and do that.

Real-world example

Suppose you have a client who is planning to sell their business in a few years. But, in todays business climate, when there are huge piles of acquisition money floating around, good businesses are going for very high multiples. Your client may have received an offer to sell right away for double what an independent valuation told him his business is worth. Now the decision gets more difficult. On one hand, your client wants to delay selling because he believes he can sell for even more in a few years if he keeps growing the business. On the other hand, you know the offer he received may not be there in a few years when your client is ready to sell. Further, you know that if he accepts the offer now, hell have more than enough to achieve all of his familys financial goals without ever working again.

You know your client very well. The "nudge" here is to remind him of his goals and financial plan. Selling today ensures he will meet all of his financial goals, but he might not be ready psychologically to live life without the business his baby. And no amount of money in the bank can replace that feeling of purpose and accomplishment. Thats where you come in.

Again, nobody knows your clients better than you do. As their trusted advisor, you owe it to your clients to create a choice architecture that lets them maintain control, but ensures they understand the pros and cons carefully, of any decision they ultimately make.

Dont be afraid to say, This is what I would do if I were you. Thats why they pay you.

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Are you a Libertarian Paternalist with your clients? - Accounting Today

Over the weekend my Morning Readings included a lesson that economists teach called the Cobra Effect. Jon Miltimore is the Managing Editor of the Foundation for Economic Education in Atlanta and his FEE.org is a highly respected conservative libertarian economic think tank. In his story you are about to read, he claims economists around the world speak often on The Cobra Effect.

You see, every human decision brings about consequences, intended ones and unintended ones, Jon writes. Unintended consequences are so common economists often call them Cobra Problems, after an interesting historical event in India that occurred when the British Empire tried to eradicate cobras, the deadly snakes, by putting out a bounty on them. (the unintended consequences won that one!)

In two weeks we are told CHI Memorial Hospital will fire any employee who has not been vaccinated with the COVID shots.

Yet if you feel we have mandate problems, read what Mr. Miltimore writes about Houston:

* * *

COMMENTARY: MASSIVE NURSES SHORTAGE HITS HOUSTON, WEEKS AFTER 150 UNVACCINATED NURSES AND HOSPITAL WORKERS WERE FIRED

by Jon Miltimore, writing on August 23, 2021

Jennifer Bridges knew what was coming when her director at Houston Methodist hospital called her up in June to inquire about her vaccination status. Bridges, a 39-year-old registered nurse, responded absolutely not when asked if she was vaccinated or had made an effort to get vaccinated. She was terminated on the spot.

We all knew we were getting fired, Bridges, 39, told CBS News. We knew unless we took that shot to come back, we were getting fired today. There was no ifs, ands or buts. Bridges was one of more than 150 hospital workers fired by Houston Methodist hospital.

All last year, through the COVID pandemic, we came to work and did our jobs, said Kara Shepherd, a labor and delivery nurse who joined Bridges and other workers in an unsuccessful lawsuit. We did what we were asked. This year, were basically told were disposable.

PLEASE SEND HELP NOW

Shepherd and her colleagues may be disposable in the eyes of hospital administrators, but they are perhaps not as easily replaced as she or Houston Methodist thought.

Two months after firing unvaccinated hospital staff, Houston Methodist is one of several area hospitals experiencing a severe shortage of medical personnel. Media reports say hospitals have reached a breaking point because of a flood of COVID-19 cases.

In an editorial published Tuesday, the Houston Chronicle said the 25-county hospital area that includes Houston had more patients in hospital bedsmore than 2,700than at any point in 2021. News reports make it clear that hospitals are struggling to keep up.

KHOU-11, a local news station, says medical tents have been erected outside of Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital but are vacant because of a shortage of nurses.

Please send help now, said Dr. George Williams, chief ICU medical officer for LBJ Hospital.

While most media reports focus on LBJ Hospital, reports also make it clear other hospitals, including Houston Methodist, are experiencing similar struggles. The Houston Chronicle says Harris Health System (which includes LBJ) is short some 250 nurses, while the University of Texas Medical Branch has requested an additional one hundred nurses to help address staff shortages at four hospitals.

Baylor St. Lukes Medical Center, a private Houston hospital jointly owned by Baylor College and a local healthcare system, said the hospital is definitely being impacted by the nurse shortage.

As for Houston Methodist, the hospital is reportedly struggling as wellalthough theyve yet to admit it publicly.

An internal memo at Houston Methodist Hospital said it is struggling with staffing as the numbers of our COVID-19 patients rise, the Chronicle reports.

Public officials are scrambling to address the shortage, which has created a massive patient backlog throughout the Houston area. More than a week ago, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott requested out of state assistance for the statewide crisis, including 2,500 out of state nurses. LBJ Hospital officials said those nurses have not yet arrived.

The metro-wide shortage of nurses reportedly came to light when an ER doctor emailed a state senator about the dire situation in hospitals.

The combined increase in volume from (COVID and) existing normal volume (and) nursing shortage has made this a terrible disaster at every ER and hospital in the city of Houston, the physician wrote, according to the Chronicle.

THE COBRA EFFECTS

Its unclear to what extent Houston Methodists decision to fire 150 unvaccinated medical workers exacerbated the nursing crisis. For perhaps obvious reasons, hospital officials have been mum on the issue.

What we know is that Houston hospitals that did not abruptly fire 150 employees struggled to deal with the COVID spike, and in some cases people died as a result. So, its safe to presume that Houston Methodists decision to fire 150 employees a few weeks before the Delta variant arrived in force didnt make the situation any better and probably made it much worse.

Some may be tempted to think Houston Methodist was able to quickly replace the workers they lost, but evidence suggests this is unlikely. Apart from the broader shortage, front line nurses are burned out, they say.

We are all tired of this; nurses are tired of this, Texas Nurses Association CEO Cindy Zolnierek wrote in a recent public letter.

That Houston Methodist hospital didnt intend to exacerbate its shortage of hospital staff goes without saying, but its also an important reminder about what economists call the Cobra Effect.

Every human decision brings about consequences, intended ones and unintended ones. Unintended consequences are so common economists often call them Cobra Problems, after an interesting historical event in India that occurred when the British Empire tried to eradicate cobras by putting out a bounty on them. (Can you guess what happened?)

When hospital administrators set their policyget vaccinated or lose your jobtheir goal was to increase vaccination rates of hospital staff. The unintended consequence was a shortage of nurses and other hospital workers during a deadly pandemic.

In June, Houston Methodists president, Marc Boom, sounded confident that his coercive methods were effective, noting that almost 25,000 of the health systems 26,000 workers were fully vaccinated.

The science proves that the vaccines are not only safe but necessary if we are going to turn the corner against COVID-19, Boom told employees in a statement.

Other Houston hospitals saw things differently. Two months before Houston Methodist fired its workers, Harris Health System officials announced they would not be requiring hospital workers to get vaccinated, noting none of the vaccines were fully approved by the FDA.

Americans will, of course, disagree about which CEOs approach was the correct one. The pandemic, after all, has been bitterly divisive because were deeply divided over this very question: should coercive means be employed to achieve certain desired healthcare outcomes, and if so, to what extent?

In 2020, political leaders around the world said yes to this question, and the results were disastrous. A year later, private companies are playing a different version of the same game: take the vaccine or get fired.

Like the lockdown champions of 2020, corporate leaders no doubt believe their action is moral, proper, and will achieve their desired result. But as the Cobra Effect reminds us, focusing strictly on desired outcomes and ignoring potential unintended outcomes is a good way to get bitten.

* * *

The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) is an American conservative libertarian economic think tank. It is a member of the State Policy Network. Its mission is to promote principles of "individual liberty, free-market economics, entrepreneurship, private property, high moral character, and limited government". Headquartered in Atlanta, it was established 75 years ago. It is considered the oldest free market think tank in the United States.

royexum@aol.com

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Roy Exum: Beware Of The Cobra - The Chattanoogan

Bernie Sanders wants better press coverage of the Build Back Better bill? Ask and you shall receive, Sanders. Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and Nick Gillespie detail the most egregious parts of this giant pile of potential spending. Plus we talk about the Jones Act, all on this Monday's Reason Roundtable.

Discussed in the show:

1:05: The Roundtable sets the record straight after the official White House Twitter account claimed the "Build Back Better Agenda is $0."

33:07: Weekly Listener Question: I am a Jones Act mariner. While I, and many other American merchant mariners, are pretty libertarian, the Jones Act is the third rail of the maritime industry and turns many mariners away from the libertarianmovement (Cato, Ronald Reagan, and John McCain are not popular among Jones Act Mariners). While I agree with many reforms, like removing the U.S. shipbuilding requirement for Jones Act (that is, domestic) trade, I do not agree with removing the cabotage rules for domestic trade. Airlines, trucking, and trains all enjoy cabotage protections for domestic trade, but it seems that the sights are always on the Jones Act unfairly and the American Merchant Marine. What say you?

39:03: William Shatner went to space!

44:20: Media recommendations for the week.

This week's links:

Send your questions to roundtable@reason.com. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.

Today's sponsors:

Audio production by Ian KeyserAssistant production by Regan TaylorMusic: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve

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The Biden White House Is Lying About the Democrats' Spending Bill - Reason

October 15, 2021

Black policymakers challenged gubernatorial candidates to elaborate on their strategies to create equity, inclusion and ownership through their "Black Agendas" at a reception Thursday evening.

"I think it's important that we put things in context because when you start talking about a Black Agenda, a Black Agenda means something different to everyone in the room," Del. Darryl Barnes, the chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, said Thursday evening.

All nine of the declared Democratic candidates for governor Rushern L. Baker III, John Baron, Peter V.R. Franchot, Doug Gansler, Ashwani Jain, John B. King, Jr., Wes Moore, Tom Perez and Michael Rosenbaum attended the Legislative Black Caucus' candidates reception Thursday evening to inform voters of color about their policies surrounding the Black Agenda.

Two of the Republican candidates Del. Daniel L. Cox (R-Frederick) and Robin Ficker and Libertarian candidate David Lashar also attended.

Commerce Secretary Kelly M. Schulz (R) missed the event due to a prior commitment.

House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) and members of the Legislative Black Caucus introduced their Black Agenda at the start of the 2021 session with the aim to reduce race-based inequities in economic opportunity, public health and housing.

Jones didn't stay to hear the candidates but did tell them that a "rising tide lifts all boats."

"If we want to continue to build a strong economy, we need to make sure that our policies work to improve the lives of every resident, particularly those that have been disenfranchised," she said.

Jones pointed to the results of the 2020 Census as a reason to continue striving toward the goals of the Black Agenda: people who identify as white alone now make up less than half of the state's population.

"Traditional minority issues like economic mobility, public safety and health equity in communities of color are now Maryland's issues," Jones said. "None of the candidates here today can afford to take minority voters, or any voters, for granted."

Of the candidates at the reception Thursday, Franchot was one of the first to make his Black Agenda publicly available.

Baker, called the evening "a beginning conversation," and stated his intent to officially roll out his own Black Agenda "within the next two weeks."

Moore said that he released his on Monday.

Barnes challenged the remaining gubernatorial hopefuls to publish theirs by Nov. 1.

The night's recurring themes included education, affordable child care, cannabis legalization, criminal justice reform, environmental justice, accessible public transportation, job creation and homeownership.

Sen. Antonio Hayes (D-Baltimore City), who has already publicly endorsed Moore as his candidate of choice, said one of the things that attracted him to Moore's campaign was the notion of "building Black wealth through economic empowerment."

Hayes said he heard that notion echoed by a few other candidates Thursday.

"I think sometimes part of my frustration with us as Democrats [is that] we shy away from some of those economic issues, but I think this field of candidates is talking about a different way [and] I was encouraged about it," Hayes said in an interview.

Sen. Arthur Ellis (D-Charles) said that he wants to hear about candidates' transportation and public health policies. He also wants them to put their money where their mouth is.

"We want more of those issues to be addressed, forcefully not just in a little speech here, but on their website," said Ellis. "Talk about it, put it out there and let everyone know that you're serious."

During their speeches, multiple candidates regurgitated their entire platform simply to a different audience on a different day from a different stage.

But there were some new messages, like Lashar who said he hopes to be the confirmed candidate for the Maryland Libertarian Party in the next few days.

Lashar said he would support legalized drug distribution paired with mental health supports to end the war on drugs, abolishing qualified immunity for police officers, and school choice.

There were also a few faux pas.

Cox began his speech by thanking Barnes, Jones and "esteemed Speaker Pro-Tem Theresa Sample-Hughes."

Del. Sheree Sample-Hughes (D-Lower Shore) has been the House Speaker Pro-Tem for two-thirds of Cox's tenure in the legislature.

Cox also ended his speech with the use of the term "you people," a phrase that has been used to alienate communities of color.

Ficker said that he'll be the first Maryland governor whose parents were born in Africa and, to the audience's confusion, added: "I'm looking forward to being your governor. I will be a Caucasian governor, and I'm also going to be the first Black governor that Maryland has. Thank you very much."

Ultimately, Black lawmakers said they are looking for a governor who is willing to make bold moves on behalf of Black and Brown communities.

Quoting Malcolm X in the television series "Godfather of Harlem," Barnes said: "If you're going to invoke a little politics, then you must also invoke a little gangster."

"We are looking for someone that is bold and courageous," Barnes said. "And if one is not speaking of a Black Agenda, then I am going to act like Malcolm X and I'm going to make sure that we tell our people that we are not voting for a candidate that is not putting our needs and our concerns first. Because the day of being 'bamboozled and hoodwinked,' let me say, is over."

hgaskill@marylandmatters.org

For more stories from Maryland Matters, visit http://www.marylandmatters.org.

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At Legislative Black Caucus Reception, Governor Candidates Asked To Lay Out Their Policies To Bolster The Black Agenda - Patch.com

ELIZABETHTOWN A report released last week by a nonprofit Libertarian-based think tank offers true information on the American Rescue Plan Act, and yet leaves out some important facts.

The Reason Foundation researched 142 reports filed by states, cities and counties and declared state and local governments have spent very little of the federal aid they allocated under the American Rescue Plan Act. On its website, Reason goes on to knock the Biden administration and lawmakers who cited urgency in passing $350 billion in emergency funding for state, local, and territorial governments.

Bladen County commissioners have a share of that money, and have recently been in discussions for appropriation. But there isnt necessarily a hurry.

County Manager Greg Martin, responding to questions from the Bladen Journal, wrote in an email, The deadline for obligating funds is December 2024 and deadline for spending funds is December 2026. The Board recently held a public hearing and received requests for funds. US Treasury has not released Final Rule regarding eligible uses of funds. The School of Government advises local governments to plan but wait for final rule. We will plan to determine uses of funds in the near future.

Bladen County was allocated $6,355,865 and thus far has received one-half, or $3,177,932.50. Martin said the county has used only $30,777.40 thus far, all for the purpose of COVID-19 sick leave.

These funds are not to be confused with prior relief funds for COVID-19, some of which came during the Trump administration.

Martin wrote in the email, Bladen County received $1,417,464.82 in Coronavirus Relief Funds. To date, $1,390,838.75 has been spent. The unspent funding of $26,626.07 is due to items ordered by the Town of White Lake being on back order. Funds are to be spent by December 31, 2021.

The Reason Foundations report trumpets that 97 percent of the funds the Biden administration was in a hurry to get and disperse have not been spent. It cited, for reasons the money has gone unspent, state and local governments seeing very minimal dips in 2020 revenue, and strings attached to the ARPA funds restricting how they can be spent.

The John Locke Foundation, a conservative-leaning think tank in Raleigh, recently documented nearly 90 percent of the $6 billion in COVID-19 relief funds sent to the state being unspent as of mid-July. At less than 2 percent unspent, Bladen County significantly bucks that trend.

This story authored by Alan Wooten of the Bladen Journal. Contact him at 910-247-9132 or awooten@bladenjournal.com.

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ARPA funding slow to go out, and in Bladen County theres a reasonable explanation for that - Elizabethtown Bladen Journal