The great thing about internet searching is the algorithms that keep presenting you with the content it thinks you will like.

I was searching searching “major economic downturns” and “declines of empires”, and was presented with links to some new YouTube videos from sports events and rock concerts where people had filmed, not the events, but the crowd chanting and singing.

In our “make it go viral” world of flash mobs and water-bucket challenges, the latest craze in America is to get crowds to chant endlessly,

“ F… Joe Biden! F… Joe Biden!” “F… Joe Biden!”

At first, I thought, it had something to do with a new trend about wanting to have sex with Old Men, but my hopes were quickly dashed.

It seems, high energy prices, increased unemployment, a general decline in living standards, and heavy-handed government interference, which America has witnessed over the past 10-months, are not going down too well with the young American voter. Quelle surprise!

High energy costs are going to maker this a very cold winter, and also dampen any prospect of economic growth over the short and medium-term. (Dampen, might be a bit of an understatement)

Initially, the pain will be eased, because of the personal savings the public have amassed during Covid. But as these saving disappear, the underlying weakness of our economies will cause some real hardships. Commodity-driven inflation and stagnant or declining incomes will prove to be an impossible problem to solve for our current batch of western leaders. And we are already seeing the US Administration and the EU, holding out their begging bowls to China and Russia. But as we all know, help may be offered, but it will come with strings attached.

Asian exporters will not be immune from a decline in global growth, but there can be no question that they are in a far better position to cope with a decline than the west.

And it is not as if they have to tailor every political and economic issue to please cry-baby environmentalists and their woke friends.

What will be interesting is how cryptocurrencies perform as we go forward. And it appears so far so good.

Talking people into investing in the crypto world should be very easy right now, and we can expect another round of frenzied buying.

How strong these new buyers prove to be is yet to be seen, but there are not many alternative investments that can compete earnings-wise.

That said, diversification remains the best policy.

We need to prepare for more government heavy-handedness, and with this will come some really bad, short-term decision making.

Don’t forget, those Politicians who claim they have a solution, are the same people responsible for the problem.

Talking of bad decision making.

I wonder, if I could have searched YouTube back in 1998, would I have presented a video of crowds singing, “Blow Bill Clinton!”.

That would have been funny.

Until next time.

Good luck and good trading

The Old Man.