- $14bn is the total estimated cost of U.S 2020 election = The GDP of Somalia, 400,000 ventilators or 800,000 scholarships
- Pirates of the Caribbean, Hollywood’s most expensive production $372m – Q to Captain Sparrow who looted Americans?!
- Shouting match to Make America Great Again was a boon to Chinese manufacturers of baseball caps, flags & giveaways*
- This year Halloween & election have startling similarities: a lot of fear on the streets, politicians that resemble Zombies…
- Combined tender age of DoJo: 151Yrs. they represent 2 parties that are equally responsible for burying “U.S credibility”
- Buried long-overdue reforms, dry pipeline of new political ideas & social justice but plenty of PFOs: Pumpkins for Office
- At home BoJo & “ensemble” busy with Rock, Papers & Scissors: who’s to Track the Brexit & who’s to Trace the Pandemic?
- With only a few weeks to go they are all busy “chasing the fish” with E.U counterparts = Fisheries are 0.1% of the U.K GDP
- Meanwhile the Gov. rejected the mid-term free school meals for close to 1.4m/10% of the total population of U.K’s children
- The total cost of Brexit negotiations estimated at £2bn or equal to 869m free meals for underprivileged children
- Talking of substance & where to focus? 0.1% of GDP or the future mental health & human capital of the country?
- Further afield across The Pacific China is in Tai Chi mode and observing many of these developments with curiosity…
Staying Sober, Sound & Sensible – A snapshot of why what are leaving behind shouldn’t be considered normal…
- Net Zero targets for CO2 emissions should be broadened to Net Zero for Hunger as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vSdxCvp1oY
- It’s hard to grasp that in The U.K a “G7” economy there are kids who sleep hungry & such socio-economic disparities exist
- Focusing only on foreign threats & losing sight of the long-term impact of hunger on Mental Health/Depression is myopic
- Top Universities in U.K should start introducing MAA: Masters of Activism Administration – it will have a surging enrolment
- Mandarins running for Ministerial roles must be subject to personality assessment tests e.g. Hogan Profiles etc.
- Assessing their empathy & humanity is A MUST – Robots will arrive & we don’t need them yet in flesh & blood in the office!
- An admission quota of 10% for all private schools in U.K for poor families will be a good starting point
- It can foster connectivity & realism between social classes, developing harmony and would work as a societal Crazy Glue
- In 5-10 years time having a Prime Minister from a very poor background and family may just be what U.K needs
- AR (Augmented Realty) & VR (Virtual Reality) could not predict and prepare us for the PR what I call Pandemic Reality
- PR has laid bare naked many of the deficits in our socio-economic models – social fabric seams are loose & coming off
- Across The Atlantic, election fever runs high & wild – look at gun slinging & fully geared armed supporters of POTUS
- Walmart is removing guns from stores in a precautionary move & out of concerns for social unrest after the elections
- If Chinese made U.S flags were not on the pickup trucks, one could mistaken such scenes for Mogadishu or Kabul
- Speaking of China, it’s the only economy that is growing in a post Pandemic world – “Dual Circulation” is the focus
- Beijing’s “Made in China 2025” ambitions were immediately met with D.C’s & Donald’s ire, leading to the Trade War
- Pushing China to a corner is counter-productive for U.S & E.U and will only have a boomerang effect like offshoring
- Expect China to take a leaf out of Israel’s Policy of Ambiguity: neither claims nor announces/denies its actions/future goals
- This is going to push China into its “Turtle Shell” only to come out as Ninja Turtle in semiconductors and other technologies
- China is putting 3% of its GDP a whopping $456bn into R&D– eclipsing all U.K’s investments in R&D, vocational & youth dev.
- The other aspect that we should not lose sight, is the divergence of optimism among youth in The East & The West
- In most of Asia & China in particular the Gen Y and Gen Z have witnessed rising living standards across the board
- Beijing can accelerate its growth and prosperity even further by attracting global talent/diversity to its innovation hubs
- China is keen to be more than a manufacturing powerhouse & serious tech star & aspires to be an intellectual contender
- Creating a socio-digital convergence is the new turf in Great Power Rivalry yet capital is putting money on Asia & China
- Ant Financial will have the largest dual listing of $37bn on H.K & Shanghai stock exchanges – quite a weight lift for an Ant!
- If America First is extended for another 4 Yrs. Beijing will work very hard to introduce a new Track & Field competition
- Vaccine Diplomacy, and the fast opening of its capital markets, will attract many “relay runners” into its team and orbit
- Today more than 60% of the Chinese capital markets is accessible to foreigners – just 5 years ago hardly any of it!
- As a result the massive $45tr capital markets is seeing a long queue of JP Morgan, Amex, Goldman Sachs and others
Regardless who wins on Nov 3rd, Boris, Emmanuel & Angela should wear their Lycras & enrol in gymnastic/Pilates classes. They will find the required Diplomatic Split moves between D.C & Beijing very painful and demanding on their legs!
Lockdown 2.0 is already here in U.K. It is estimated that 15m dental appointments were delayed & good 17-30% of the professionals in U.K’s dental care sector are E.U citizens. When lockdown & Brexit are over we may have lost a few more teeth & will be only able to say “Brexsheit!” to the camera.
Not all is lost as a new decade is upon us. So let’s hope that year 2021will serve a winning hand at the Blackjack table of life. Yet, with so many jokers in the cards we must first shuffle the deck! Can you hear the sound of the cards across the Atlantic?