I initially began writing blog posts for my clients when I was a partner at Millennial Group, the firm I cofounded in the fall of 1997. As one of three partners in the firm, I generally wrote one or two blog posts each month, as we sent out something weekly to keep our clients informed about the economic and investment backdrop, as well as our thoughts and guidance on these topics.
When I opened Impel Wealth Management in the spring of 2017, it was initially up to me to write all the blog posts that would go out to our clients. This was not a problem as I enjoy writing. It helps me assimilate my thought process around the 600 to 800 pages of economic and political data I read each month. From that point forward, I generally wrote a weekly blog post to keep my clients informed on topics that I believed would be relevant to their financial well-being.
However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020 and the economy, as well as in-person meetings, were shut down in March of that year (remember two weeks to bend the curve?), I decided to double down on this strategy and write two blog posts each week to help our clients make sense of the vast amount of information that was circulating in the world during this period of economic and investment dislocation.
At the end of March 2020, as the CARES Act was passed and the Federal Reserve Bank cut interest rates to 0% to stimulate economic growth, I heard Chairman Jay Powell and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin state, “This is an unconventional recession, and we are going to have to use unconventional tools to fight it.”
They then unleashed an unconventional and historically rapid response to a unique economic crisis. This led to unprecedented measures to maintain credit flow and support businesses and households.
The moment I heard the above statement, I recognized it as something I had heard before. The quote came from the character Otter in the movie Animal House. This led me, against my wife Rachel‘s advice, to write a two-part blog series in early April of that year, comparing the actions of the federal government and the Federal Reserve with those of the Animal House fraternity brothers.
"Now we could do it with conventional weapons, but that could take years and cost millions of lives". - Otter
Source: YouTube
I've included links to the two blog posts, available on the Impel Wealth Management website, below, if you would like to refresh your memory.
https://www.impelwealth.com/blog/the-federal-reserve-animal-house-bugs-bunny
I got such great feedback from all of you about the articles that I began looking for other pieces of pop culture to use as backdrops or analogies for future writings. This had struck a chord with people. It was easier for someone to remember a concept when it was tied to an interesting movie, TV show, or classic rock song that they identified with.
By early 2021, we were able to look back and assess the significant damage the COVID shutdowns had inflicted on the US economy. GDP, which had ended 2020 at approximately $21.7 trillion, shrank to $19.5 trillion by the end of the second quarter. Once again, this told me that our response to COVID had dug a $2.2 trillion hole in the US economy. The first image that came to mind was the Friends episode where Monica, Chandler, and Joey went to the beach, and Joey dug a giant hole.
Source: YouTube
Unfortunately, for Joey, after all that work, the waves rushed in and filled the hole. In much the same way, the federal government and the Federal Reserve Bank rushed in with more than $6 trillion of economic and financial stimulus to fill the $2 trillion hole left by the COVID shutdowns. What could go wrong?
A link to the Friends-based blog post is included below and is also available on our company website under resources and our blog.
https://www.impelwealth.com/blog/the-one-where-joey-and-the-economy-dug-a-hole
Once again, the response was terrific. Clients and community members noted that blog posts incorporating these types of pop culture references were not only more memorable but also enjoyable to read, unlike most economic and investment materials they had previously encountered.
After writing hundreds of blog posts over the years, I was encouraged by several clients, community leaders, and especially Rachel, to take the next step and apply this style to write a comprehensive book on planning for a successful retirement. I am pleased to announce that PopEnomics: 12 Relatable (and Not Boring) Pop Culture Insights for Retirement Success was released on September 4th. I have included an Amazon link to the book below for those interested in exploring it further.
If it had not been for the overwhelming and positive response from you, our friends and clients, PopEnomics may not have been created. I want to thank the more than 7,000 people who follow my LinkedIn page and regularly read our blog posts. I wanted to share the story of how PopEnomics evolved during our COVID response. It was important for me to express my gratitude to you as we continue “Moving Life Forward.”
© 2025 Jesse Hurst
Senior Wealth Manager
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