In this reflective piece, Jonathan Satovsky shares insights from his experience at Ireland’s Kilkenomics – The World’s First Economics and Comedy Festival, where he explored how cultural differences in incentives and risk-taking shape economic growth. While a slight departure from traditional investment topics, his observations underscore a crucial theme in wealth management: the role of innovation and adaptability in creating lasting success.
Incentives. Incentives matter.
I’m in Europe at the Kilkenny Economics and Comedy Festival – Kilkenomics.
And in sitting chatting with many of the locals, asking them their perspective on what’s going on in America and what’s going on in Europe, I heard some fascinating things.
America is revered.
Why? Because it’s basically 50 countries, not 50 states, 50 countries that have come together and embraced risk-taking, entrepreneurism, and incentivized people to create a better life for themselves. People go there to make their dreams a reality. And Europe, with a lot of wealth, and a lot of money, has erred on the side of being super conservative.
So in the normal evolution of businesses, there’s a concept called the S-curve where you have rapid growth, and then you mature, and you level off. But if you want to continue to grow, you’ve got to innovate and create a new S-curve on top of the S-curve, and that’s what America keeps doing.
Europe is like that S-curve that has matured and sort of stabilized. Of course, it’s beautiful there. The quality of life is beautiful, the architecture is beautiful – you know, 500, 800-year-old buildings, it’s amazing.
But you’ve got to keep innovating, you’ve got to keep refreshing, you’ve got to keep renewing yourself.
Like it or not, change is the only thing that’s certain. So embrace change, embrace the beauty of the old, and yet,
continue to innovate on the new – and together we can all live healthy, wealthy, and wise.
Have a great day.
