As I’ve stressed before, uncertainty and change are unavoidable realities of life. Yet all of us are asked to make decisions in the face of these fluid dynamics. What’s the best way to do so? Sadly, there is no one correct answer, but I believe we must look through the day-to-day noise to have any chance of identifying signals. Long-term trends that drive seemingly disconnected developments offer a compass to guide us through the numerous cross-currents that plague our lives; and, as I’ve noted several times in the past, I believe this approach is at least marginally...