2022 here we come, ready or not!

As we close out 2021, it would be a good time to look back and reflect on the year. Frankly, I'd rather not. Let's look forward and make the year ahead a better one.

I could write thousands of words about 2021. We all could. The pandemic, the world, the economy, the government, and our lives. Let’s not. Let’s focus on the future.

Today, I will share some of what’s helping me get ready for 2022.

Set goals, not resolutions for 2022

I highly recommend this post from Abdullah Al-Bahrani, an economics professor at the University of Kentucky. He’s an excellent mentor to his students and offers good advice to all of us. Subscribe to his Substack and follow him on Twitter too.

Claudia Sahm @Claudia_Sahm

watch @DrAAlBahrani today and reflect on your goals for 2022. draalbahrani.substack.com/p/how-to-set-g… highly recommend his Substack, especially for students and early career individuals.

draalbahrani.substack.comHow to Set Goals for 2022The 3X3 Framework

I followed his advice and set three professional, financial, and personal goals for 2022. Because I am a walking TMI and believe in commitment devices it’s in that thread.

Do whatever you can to stay safe and help others

Omicron is a dark and dangerous cloud looming over the start of 2022. Tragically, this is a reality we know all too well as the pandemic enters its third year. My recent conversation with Julia Raifman, a public health professor at Boston University, gave me hope and concrete steps on how to contain Covid and save lives. Let’s do it!

Claudia Sahm @Claudia_Sahm

today's Substack post is an important one. nothing gets back to normal without getting Covid under control. we know what to do. @JuliaRaifman shares her expertise on what actions are necessary. DO IT!

stayathomemacro.substack.comConversation with Julie Raifman, public health expert, about Covid precautionsOmicron is spreading like wildfire. Julia offers advice to policy leaders and to each of us. We all have a role to play. Let’s do it!

Truly, if we could do anything in 2022, it would be to embrace our collective responsibility in the fight against Covid. The Gospel According to Shug by Alice Walker is my favorite poem. Here’s some of it that’s captures my wish for 2022:

HELPED are those who love the stranger; in this they reflect the heart of the Creator and that of the Mother.

HELPED are those whose every act is a prayer for harmony in the Universe, for they are the restorers of balance to our planet. To them will be given the insight that every good act done anywhere in the cosmos welcomes the life of an animal or a child.

HELPED are those who risk themselves for others' sakes; to them will be given increasing opportunities for ever greater risks. Theirs will be a vision of the world in which no one's gift is despised or lost.

HELPED are those who find the courage to do at least one small thing each day to help the existence of another - plant, animal, river, or other human being. They shall be joined by a multitude of the timid.

HELPED are those who know.

Celebrate the wins and keep fighting for better

2021 was often crushing, and it offered glimmers of hope. It’s important that we see the wins—in the world and in our lives—so we can keep going. Change doesn’t happen on its own. Change comes from action. Action comes from hope.

I worked hard on economic policy this past year, some days were heartbreaking and some were joyous. The biggest highlight: I saw the American Rescue Plan pass.

Claudia Sahm @Claudia_Sahm

on @AlJazeera in 5 talking about the passage of the relief package. got some flowers and a new blouse to celebrate the big day!!

I celebrated the day it passed and the day it was signed into law.

Claudia Sahm @Claudia_Sahm

now wearing my *Make Unemployment Insurance Sexy Again* t-shirt. Frances Perkins would be proud of us today ❤️

I did not stop. The Rescue Plan has come under repeated attack from economists and pundits who opposed it. It was not perfect, and it was a godsend. In my most-read Substack post this year, I argue that it made a huge difference in the economic recovery and in people’s lives. I did my part, and I am proud of that.

Claudia Sahm @Claudia_Sahm

"look broadly at what’s happening in the U.S. economy—inflation-adjusted consumer spending, jobs, business investment, and household balance sheets—it’s clear Americans are winning. Not so after the Great Recession when some of today’s hawks led policy."

stayathomemacro.substack.comLet’s get real: the American Rescue Plan was the best economic policy in forty yearsNearly a year and a half into the recovery from the Covid recession, it’s indisputable that fiscal relief was a success. Not so, after the Great Recession. It fell far short.

Wrapping up. 2022, here we come!

My heart goes out to everyone who lost loved ones in 2021 or who struggled through it, whether physically, emotionally, or financially. I welcome 2022 and am going to work actively to make it better than 2021. I hope you will too. We know what it takes to get to a better place. It’s a matter of will and compassion. We got it. I know we do!

All the best to you and yours in the New Year!