Visualizing the USA's $29 trillion economy by state. California is now the 4th largest economy in the world, recently surpassing Japan.

Visualizing the USA's $29 trillion economy by state. California is now the 4th largest economy in the world, recently surpassing Japan.

(by @VisualCap) pic.twitter.com/i4b5vHFUm9

— Information is Beautiful (@infobeautiful) November 25, 2025

18min clip - The confusion between savings and investment in the UK economy is massively harmful to the economy.

A smarter economy puts women's skills to work

 

The world in 2025 according to the WEF - investor insights

According to a recent WEF global risks report the two biggest risks in 2025 are

- war (23%)

- extreme weather (14%)

On global cybersecurity a recent WEF report suggests that in 2025

- Increased integration of and dependence on more complex supply chains is leading to a more opaque and unpredictable risk landscape

– The rapid adoption of emerging technologies is contributing to new vulnerabilities as cybercriminals harness them effectively to achieve greater sophistication and scale

– Simultaneously, the proliferation of regulatory requirements around the world is adding a significant compliance burden for organizations. 

- All of these challenges are exacerbated by a widening skills gap, making it extremely challenging to manage cyber risks effectively.

And their Chief Economists January outlook for 2025 basically says 

- A majority of chief economists (56%) expect the global economy to weaken

- Yet strong growth is expected in the USA and India

- Significant majorities also expect increased barriers to labour mobility and transfers of technology and data. 

- Consensus that protectionism will cause durable changes to trade patterns over the next three years

- The chief economists expect growing regionalization of trade, as well as a continuation of a gradual shift in the composition of trade from goods to services (generally advanced economies tend to benefit more than developing economies from services trade)

Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

Nearly all of the improved UK economic performance is because there were more migrants

Is Brexit to blame for everything wrong with the UK economy?

 

Truss's government truly is the Boris continuity option ....

 ....but sadly not in a good way.  And they don't seem to realise or understand what their problem is.  Lets look at two examples.

To avoid scutiny of their budget from the Office of Budget Responsibility they call last Fridays event a "Fiscal Event".  And as concerns providing any actual detail to backup what is proposed, Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng tells us we'll get a "medium-term fiscal" plan on November 23rd. Previously this had been promised for the new year.  

At the heart of the problem is an attitude that "Rules don't apply to us".  Once you've accepted that premise, then of course its OK to find any dodge to get round the OBR scrutiny rules.  And the media's choice of language is hardly better.  They have, at least, refused to use the weaselly "Fiscal Event" language, instead using the term "Mini-Budget", which is almost as bad.  The one thing we can all agree on is that there was nothing mini about what was announced last Friday.

Daily spot rates against Sterling (Source Bank of England)

But the rules do apply to Truss and her government, and strangely, the fiannciers in the city of London are the body of people currently doing the most to get them to understand that.  The market's reaction to the birth of Trussenomics - or maybe TrussKwasism - is to say something like "If all you've got is rhetoric with no credible detail then off course we're going to short the £, and anything else we can make money on".  And its the lack of detail which is adding the uncertainty into the financial markets, from which the shorters are benefiting.

Or take the example of Prime Minister Liz Truss's Chief of Staff Mark Fullbrook, who was been paid by his own lobbying company.  This 12 year old Conservative Government has become so used to lobbyists and big companies buying their way into positions of power, that they don't even understand why it might be viewed as a bit fishy.  As any punter wanting to avoid been scammed will tell you, the golden rule to follow is "If its too good to be true, then it is"  Maybe our government needs to relearn that rule.  If a company wants to pay the salary of your Chief of Staff, then it is fairly obvious they're not doing it for the greater good.  They're doing it to gain information, power and influence.  

In a U turn on this issue a Downing Street spokeperson announced early on Tuesday that Mark Fullbrook will go on special advisor contract to end ‘ongoing speculation’.  So thats all right then.

For 12 years the Conservative Party has run our government, and in that time they've continually demonstrated that they don't think the rules apply to themselves, that they can pretend its a level marketplace whilst awarding contracts paid for with our money to their mates, who then make super large profits on them, and that its perfectly OK for companies to buy their way into posiitons of power.

"We believe it is our duty to uphold Conservative values for future generations. With your help, we aim to guarantee that our children, and their children, can live in a Britain where:

Our individual freedoms and right to social justice are respected and upheld

Our right to free enterprise and industry is protected and encouraged

Our dignified institutions and traditions are safeguarded and carefully maintained"

Source: The Conservative foundation website

Until somebody in power in the Conservative Party starts to take the social justice, free enteprise and safeguarding our institutions words above seriously, then none of this is going to get any better.  Perhaps Labour taking its biggest poll lead over the Conservatives for more than 20 years may prompt somebody into the right action.

13min @theeconomist clip - How the obsession with #homeownership ruins the #economy

text from youotube "Many dream of owning their own home, and thanks to huge financial incentives in the rich world many have been able to so. But government policies to encourage home ownership were a huge mistake. Read more here: https://econ.st/2v6sHo6

19min @circulareconomy clip - What was it like to be part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's From Linear to #Circular programme?

text from youtube "Earlier this year, postgraduate students and young professionals with a passion for the circular economy took part in the Foundation's From Linear to Circular programme - an eight week collaborative programme , which also included a three-day workshop based in London.

While they were in London, we invited them to join us for a conversation to find out more about their experience. Watch Patricia Noble, Estefania Lopez and Ahsan Syed as they discuss what they gained and how to enhanced their thinking towards the circular economy.
---
Thank you for watching this video. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a UK charity working on business, learning, insight & analysis, and communications to accelerate the transition towards the circular economy."

16min @circulareconomy clip - What do #city leaders need to know to get started with the #circular economy?

text from you tube "How do you convince work colleagues that your bright idea isn’t just another burden to their existing workload? Working with policymakers at the regional and city level in Italy, Luigi Acquaviva has had to learn a few tricks when it comes to turning environmental ideas into practice.

Meanwhile in Scotland, Cheryl McCulloch had the job of exciting Glasgow businesses and policymakers about the circular economy. The circular city scan they produced managed to turn heads and opinions towards a new way of collaborating.

3min 46sec @hayfestival clip - HISTORY - The Soviet Union - David Christian

Text from youtube "David Christian explains how and why the Soviet economy broke down.

4min wef clip - The Trouble with Measuring an Economy using #GDP

Text from youtube "Oil spills, deforestation and divorce are all good for GDP, so why is it still the yardstick we use to measure an economy? The Prime Minister of Norway and leading economists explain the debate. "

1min 40sec animated @wef clip - What's Wrong with #GDP as a measure?

Text from you tube "Is GDP really the best way to measure economic progress? There are several key questions it fails to answer. Might it be time to find more relevant targets to understand economic progress? "

1min @circulareconomy clip - New #Plastics Economy: #Circular Materials Challenge

Text from youtube "How do we stop millions of tonnes of plastics entering our oceans every year? Despite innovation, collaboration and investment to clean up waste, the three biggest clean ups tackle less than 0.5% of the plastic entering the ocean each year. We need innovation that tackles the root cause of ocean plastics, and not just the symptoms. Our $2M Innovation Prize winners demonstrate some of the possibilities to radically rethink the ways we make, use and reuse plastic packaging."

#infographic - the #great #lakes economy - growth engine of north #america

Courtesy of: Visual Capitalist

1min @wef clip - These are the fastest #growing #economies in the world

2min clip with Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO on #design & the #circular economy

found via a tweet by @camerontw referencing circulardesignguide.com

1min 3sec @wef clip on 7 things you need to know about #China 's #economy

1min @wef clip Want to be a social #entrepreneur ? You might want to start in these #economies - no. 5 is #Israel

36sec clip from @wef - the fastest growing #economies in latin america & the caribbean