The art of good business is…

⚡ The Spark
The art of good business is…

Being a good middleman (and being HATED for it)

It’s easy to miss obvious stuff in the Attention Economy.

Every media participant is bunging outrageous, ridiculous ‘news’ at us, distorting our perceptions…

Give us a stat to get all emotional and outraged about, and we race to inject it into our veins brains faster than a junkie when they score a hit.

It becomes an addictive behaviour.

Little known secret: The clickbait stuff works because it bypasses the evolved part of the brain, and plunges right into the ancient lizard synapses.

OK, maybe it stops in the emotional/feeling part. The point is that it bypasses the neocortex.

Why does our supposedly evolved brain allow this?

Because it’s faster.

Imagine if you had to spend all day thinking about every single thing you noticed.

You’d never get anything done!

Like most systems, our brain’s OS is flawed but less bad than the alternatives.

Is there a solution?

Sort of. If there’s something that keeps happening, but makes us angry, ask if we actually know what’s going on…

Like, why middlemen run the world…

UK approved millions paid to top Saudi officials, London court told

The British government facilitated millions of pounds of payments to senior Saudi Arabian officials over decades to win and maintain lucrative contracts

Instinct: Corruption! Can’t believe they’re doing this OMG!

Reality: It’s just how things get done. Middlemen payments have been going on for decades.

Call it corrupt, call it what you like, but it’s everywhere.

In EVERY society.

We have lobbying. Or jobs on the boards with cushty pensions once your political career is over.

Likewise, if you pay an extortionate price for entry to a ‘networking’ event, you’re paying for potential access to those in positions of influence and power.

Then there’s estate agents.

Curveball I admit, but everyone loves to hate them while not really understanding how the business works.

(If they’re such a bunch of c***s, why aren’t they all bust already?)

Like it or not, middlemen make the world go round.

It’s the way of the world, and has been for generations…

🧠 The Big Brain
EU Facing Existential Challenges

Is the union a relic of a bygone era?

The EU is facing yet another existential crisis. Pressures keep building in the background.

The political shift away from laissez faire liberalism is undeniable.
The rise in euroscepticism is unmistakeable.
Germany’s economic challenges are immeasurable (literally)

Here’s what it all means for the future of the eurozone and fate of the Euro.

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💡 The Lightbulb
Japanese inflation picks up, but…

Will the Bank of Japan hike?

A question for the ages. Japan’s central bank has seen inflation above target for 19 consecutive months now.

Yet they still stick with the “it’s transitory” explanation that most central banks have long since abandoned.

With good reason.

See, while inflation in many other developed nations was fuelled by a jump in demand combined with supply problems, Japan hasn’t had the same issue.

Currency weakness & rising import/energy costs have been blamed. The official name is cost-push inflation.

However, there’s evidence that Japanese companies are passing those input costs on…

And profits are rising too.

All about the wages: Keep a close eye on the upcoming wage negotiations. Japanese unions are set to demand chunky wage hikes for workers.

As we’ve seen already in the US, unions become de facto price setters for the cost of labour.

Once the UAW secured pay hikes for their members at Ford, GM & Stellantis, competing (non-union) companies had to match the deals, or risk losing workers.

Volkswagen, Nissan, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota & Subaru have already announced wage rises since UAW closed their deal.

If similar happens in Japan (and there’s really no reason to think it won’t), the central bank will be all out of reasons to keep their negative interest rate policy in place.

Earlier today, Nikkei reported that Japan’s metalworkers union is seeking pay rises of 11% or more. Last year the union demands were met, raising wages for the two million workers they represent: