The Perennials 55+ cohort have replaced babies as the main source of US population growth since 2005. They already own most of what they need. So the need for globalisation has disappeared. As Trump and Musk are suggesting, a period of rapid and uncomfortable change now seems to lie ahead.
Chemicals and the Economy
China’s economy risks heading into recession as Producer Prices enter deflation
China’s problems are spreading to the rest of the world. Not only is it exporting deflation, as its Producer Prices fall. But also, and understandably, consumer countries are introducing trade barriers to protect their own industries
China’s housing market moves from boom to bust
China’s housing inventory is now at a record 25 months. Prices/demand continue to fall. And local government land sale income has already fallen 1/3rd since 2021 to $800 billion, with a further 10% fall to expected this year. And so now services are having to be cut.
The demographic and peace dividends created by the Boomer SuperCycle are disappearing
Demand patterns are now changing rapidly. We now have a demographic deficit, rather than a dividend. And the peace dividend has also disappeared.
Gasoline/diesel cars are now less than 50% of European sales as EVs and hybrids surge
These paradigm shifts are coming at the same time as the loss of the peace and demographic dividends. They are taking our world in a new direction. The likely Winners will be those companies and investors who focus on becoming demand-led.
Time for a new set of business models as the peace and demographic “dividends” become deficits again
The next few years are therefore likely to be very different from anything that we have known in our working lives. Scenario planning is therefore essential in the face of this uncertainty.
Demographics are destiny: today’s ageing populations creating “replacement economy”
Demographics are taking demand patterns in completely new directions. Sustaining future growth now depends on successfully developing and implementing new policies, focused on the opportunities offered by the emergence of the Perennials 55+ cohort. Demographics are taking demand patterns in completely new directions. Sustaining future growth now depends on successfully developing and implementing new policies, focused on the opportunities offered by the emergence of the Perennials 55+ cohort.
Middle-Income countries face a real risk of “growing old before they become rich”
China and most Middle-Income countries seem destined to grow old before they become rich. As Pew Foundation data shows, China had just 23m people who earned more than $50/day in $2011. India has only 2m.
Asia’s debt crisis starts to approach its endgame as the yen continues to tumble
Last week, the Japanese yen fell through the US$ : ¥150 level for the first time since 1990. It has now fallen by nearly 50% against the US$ in the past two years. The currency is behaving as if Japan were a 3rd world country – whereas it is actually the 3rd largest economy in the world. Clearly, something is very wrong.
Asia’s debt crisis edges nearer, as Japan’s interest rates rise and China’s property bubble bursts
Bubbles are great fun while they last. But they are much less fun when they burst. For the past 20 years, central bank stimulus has created some of the largest bubbles ever seen. But now, led by developments in Japan and China, they are bursting