The Dividend Cafe
The Dividend Cafe
The Bahnsen Group
The Last Best Hope...of Markets
20 minutes Posted Jun 26, 2026 at 1:52 pm.
Welcome From Grand Rapids
Lincoln Last Best Hope
Markets As Hope
Not Just The Stock Market
Entrepreneurial Incentives
Risk And Future Focus
Humanizing Economics
Capital Tools And Portfolios
Closing And Next Week Preview
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20:01
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Show notes
Today's Post - https://bahnsen.co/4v7DfvO
From Grand Rapids, David Bahnsen reflects on a speech and borrows Abraham Lincoln’s “last best hope” language to argue that markets—properly understood as broad venues of human exchange, entrepreneurship, and capital formation, not merely the stock market—are inherently forward-looking declarations of optimism. He contrasts market incentives with media and political incentives that often reward negativity, and contends that entrepreneurs and investors with “skin in the game” demonstrate belief in a better tomorrow by turning ideas into solutions that meet human needs. Bahnsen urges defenders of free enterprise to resist dehumanizing markets into charts, ratios, and GDP-only talk, emphasizing the human realities of risk-taking, labor, innovation, and profitably providing goods and services. He previews a mid-year 2026 report for next week ahead of the Fourth of July and the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Links mentioned in this episode:
DividendCafe.com
TheBahnsenGroup.com