Edward Yardeni once worked for Prudential Securities (now defunct). Yardeni reminded and instructed stock brokers about many economic patterns. One that sticks with me is his observation of “rolling recessions”.

Recessions happen in strong economies; we get more of them in a weak economy. When rolling recessions happen in all economic sectors, we have an economic pandemic. The world gets a runny nose.

Despite worry, consternation, and fidgeting when watching Bloomberg news, there are metropolitan areas that show life, vibrance, innovation, employment, and hope. The downside is that there are metropolitan areas where there’s inactivity, darkness, boredom, unemployment, and despair.

Everyone does, in my opinion, possess hopeful opportunity. For reasons somewhat inexplicable, not everyone catches or wears the “gold ring”.

Alan Berube, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, reminds us that there are 366 metropolitan areas. We are not, as Berube says, a single economy. We are “a nation of 366 different economies, fueled by varying industries.”

Given the diversity, the time of recovery will differ from one metropolitan area to another.

Utopia has all 366 metropolitan areas productive and growing. Unfortunately, utopia is no place.