LAST LAUGH
YOU WANT IT? YOU CAN’T HAVE IT 5 ITEMS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO GET IN 2022 By Richard Posluszny Probably the understatement of the decade is: “We’re living in challenging, complex times.” It’s certainly correct but it’s underselling what’s been an interesting decade, to say the least. Fast forward to 2020. A pandemic swept the globe. And when things seemingly turned around, we were hit with another wave that, arguably, yielded a more significant impact. Rinse and repeat. A few more times. At the time of this writing, it’s yet to be determined whether more COVID-19 mutations will deliver systemic repercussions. Adding to that, there’s been another lasting effect from the pandemic. As industrial operations abroad ceased, or workforces were limited, we’ve been dealing with supply shortages for key components (e.g., microchips). And the hits just keep on coming. Inflation is rising. In fact, the United States’ inflation rate is the highest it’s been in 40 years. See what I mean, now? All of the aforementioned — and even more factors — has created a supply squeeze. Goods are becoming harder to acquire. That said, I figured it’d be wise to cultivate a small list (in no particular order, mind you) of the hardest items to acquire so that we level set our 2022 expectations. Buckle up; it’s about to get bumpy.
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Leading off our list is an automobile. But, it’s not just any other vehicle. It’s the all-new Ford Bronco. Since I began covering the automotive sector over 13 years ago, there’s only been two autos that captured universal interest. First, the Tesla Model 3. Second, the all-new Bronco. If serious buyer interest from all walks of life wasn’t enough, compounding this Ford’s hard-to-get factor
is how long it took the blue oval to get this product to market. Not only had people been waiting years for this truck to make its debut, additionally, when the first batches arrived this past summer, a massive recall was announced. All of the Bronco’s hardtop roofs had to get replaced. This meant thousands of these trucks were parked waiting for the appropriate parts to be produced. Now they’re starting to appear in our local neighborhoods and if you want to get one — and you weren’t on the list — get ready to cough up some serious bucks. Mark ups can be anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 over the Bronco’s sticker price.
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If there was a silver lining in the real-life horror show that was the first couple waves of COVID, it was this: If you were brave enough to travel, you were going to do so effortlessly. That’s because as the pandemic raged on and there were many unknowns about the virus, flights ground to a halt. Forget the long lines at the TSA checkpoints. You were able to breeze through security and get to your gate in ghost-town-like airports. And, once aboard, it was barren. As one would expect, had they taken an Economics 101 class, this resulted in the airlines reducing headcount and their respective overhead. Fast forward to present day. Catching an empty flight is an impossibility. As the airlines struggle to rehire their teams and keep their active crews healthy and not burnt out, the number of flights between routes has diminished. Additionally, today’s leading airlines are leveraging the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive analytics to determine how to maximize occupancy per flight. Upon my recent excursions to Naples and Phoenix, I Continued on page 82
