Monday mornings are dreadful as I get the weekly screen time report on my smartphone, exposing the details of my social media diet and internet excursions. I was pleased to see that my screen time went down 36% over the second week of March compared to the first week - every so often some good news -, I spent most of my time on social media (LinkedIn, WhatsApp) and much less time on news apps and websites (The Economist, FT).
Individuals and families are increasingly responsible for their own savings and investment decisions. We will enjoy longer lives and life expectancies are expected to increase. At the same time, the standard of living provided by a given amount of income is likely to fall over time due to inflation, as prices of goods and services ...
History is replete with epic changes of heart. Last December, China stunned the world by announcing the exit from the zero-COVID policy, which had been in place since 2020, when Wuhan declared a full-scale lockdown and COVID was known as SARS-CoV-2. Households and businesses no longer should be worried about lockdowns, but the confidence of consumers and entrepreneurs is fragile and sentiment remains shaky. Hardly a surprise after three years of lockdowns.
The death toll from the 6 February earthquake disaster topped 41,000 in Turkey and 6'000 in Syria and the full scale of the earthquake disaster is still unfolding. The World Health Organization (WHO) called the Turkey-Syria earthquakes "Europe's worst natural disaster in a century", estimating that some 26 million people across both countries need humanitarian aid and immediate assistance.
Europe's gas and power concerns have been fading recently, driven by a fortuitous combination of a mild winter and lower demand for energy. This is good news. But the current gas prices are not low and Europe's gas supply remains fragile. Elevated energy prices are a significant contributor to inflation and a large drag on European growth for this year, at least.
King Charles and Queen Camilla were crowned in Westminster Abbey on May 6th, with a sumptuous ceremony that delighted the planetary watching crowd. Britons who were celebrating the bestowal of the crown upon Charles III with coronation quiche, scones and booze, paid 25 percent higher prices ...
