Happy 2025, Generation Game Changers, British Cheese, France Falls, Brown's Bottom.

Happy New Year 2025!

Happy New Year! (Image created by Gemini)

Well 2024 was a terrible year for me and in my opinion for the world. I lost my father and my mother-in-law and the world suffered from wars in Ukraine and the Middle East (not to mention the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and the recent overthrowing of Assad in Syria). And politically we have seen more extremism in democratic countries than ever before in my lifetime.

Foe 2025, my wish is that we see peace in Ukraine (Putin has to be made to stop his madness) and a more peaceful Middle East where an evil Iranian regime is supporting several terrorist groups with arms and money.

I also hope that 2025 will be the year the world gets serious about regulating Social Media given the havoc it is wreaking on society and the damage it's doing to our young people.

Generation Game Changers

As we start 2025, I thought it would be interesting to list some of the new inventions that had a profound effect upon recent generations.

Prior to the 20th Century  we had Stone Tools, Fire, The Wheel and The Industrial Revolution.

My Grandparents (born early 20th Century)

The Telephone

My Parents (born just before WW2)

Penicillin and free healthcare

The affordable Motor Car

International Flights 

The Television

My Generation (born 1950s and 60s)

The Mobile phone

The Internet

Cheap Computers

Cheap overseas travel

Cheap Chinese imports

My Children (born 1990s) 

Smart phone and internet (next generation applications)

Working From Home

The start of Artificial Intelligence

Electric Vehicles

My Grandchildren (born 2020s)

Perhaps new medicines curing everything for dementia to cancers and AI powered robots helping in ways almost unimaginable yesterday! Hydrogen powered cars to replace EVs.

Cheese becomes a metaphor for Brexit

"British cheese is now considered some of the best in the world.

After a boom in artisan cheesemaking, Britain produces 1,100 varieties, double the total in France, and many connoisseurs argue it is now superior in quality too.

Which meant there were high hopes for British entries at the recent World Cheese Awards, which took place in Portugal.

But as the judging began, the British contingent noticed something untoward. Many of Britain’s cheeses, it emerged, had failed to pass customs, and were deprived of the chance to compete.

As a metaphor for Brexit, it couldn’t have been more succinct. Some had fun pointing out that one of Brexit’s architects, former Prime Minister Liz Truss, famously made a passionate speech about international cheese markets."

City AM December 3rd 2024

France Falls

In early December, the extreme left and right joined forces to bring down Prime Minster Michel Barnier's government, following his forcing through of a huge debt reduction budget designed to start to re-balance France's bloated state. President Macron took to prime TV to state that he would name a new PM in the coming days and would serve the remainder of his term (another 30 months).

"The underlying problem is that most French voters are unwilling to face economic reality. It is hard to see how this can be resolved. Until voters rediscover the merits of frugality, they will go on voting for the fantasies peddled by the extremes. 

Northern Europeans used to mock the PIGS —Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain—for their profligate ways. France has now turned porcine, while the PIGS have largely reformed."

This text is from The Economist 4th December 2024. Macron has named François Bayrou as the new PM.  I wish them luck.

Brown's Bottom

The UK eventually sold about 395 tonnes (12,700,000 ozt) of gold over 17 auctions from July 1999 to March 2002, at an average price of about US$275 per ounce, raising approximately US$3.5 billion.

This equated to about half of the UK's gold reserves and were sold at a time that gold was very lowly priced. Today's it is over US$2600 per ounce. Today the bank of England holds about 310 tonnes in reserve for the UK in addition to all the gold held for other owners.

This ill timed sale of British assets is now referred to as Brown's Bottom.

We are in the Agentic Era

More on that next month. Perhaps! 

Quote for the Month

"Rien n'est mort que ce qui n'existe pas encore 

Près du passé luisant demain est incolore"

"Nothing is dead except what does not yet exist 

Next to the shining past, tomorrow is colorless"

Guillaume Apollinaire in Alcools 1913

Image created by Gemini

Image created by Gemini