Mark

Yes I was just making a bit of a cheeky joke as there is an incongruity between the perception of Buddhism and loads of jewels 💎😉

Sotheby's postpones Buddha jewels auction after India threatens legal action The jewels are described as one of the most astonishing archaeological finds of the modern era.

Leaving aside the rights and wrongs here and I’m no Buddhism scholar but isn’t takes massive hoard of loot to the grave a bit sort of materialistic 🤔

Sotheby's halts Buddha jewels auction after India threat www.bbc.com/news/article...

Take no comfort from America’s Trump backlash The revolt against him isn’t huge, and it isn’t about constitutional principle

Excellent and not much to quibble with but also can someone check in on Janan

Take no comfort from America’s Trump backlash

on.ft.com/4jINIIZ

Kingsday tomorrow in Amsterdam, things warming up nicely !

The rest of the world should play Trump down the line on trade deals. They are the only thing that can save him from his own mistake.

Without, he goes into the midterms with a recession and non of the deals he promised.

Even if he survives as a lame duck he’s gone after his term.

The bond market spanked Trump for posting about Powell, it’ll be interesting to see if he’s learned that lesson and how much he cares. It’s possibly the only thing that does have leverage at this point.

The $ needs to weaken to spur reindustrialization and be strong to limit inflation passthrough from tariffs, which are supposed to spur onshoring, provide long-term revenues, and be a negotiable bargaining chip. And l/t interest rates have to be lower. The last is at least an uncomplicated desire.

We'll soon have in a selection of Leuchtturm 18mth diaries (01/07/25 - 31/12/26). They now do three different styles including our most popular: week on the left, lined for notes on the right. If there's a colour/style combo you'd like, do let us know
www.leuchtturm1917.com/weekly-plann...

Trump’s world of rival fortresses In his vision of post-liberal global disorder, the weak should always surrender to the strong

Super article

It starts with Trump as instigator however rather than seeing him as a consequence and reflecting on that.

When he won I said we now live in the time of the 3 emperors.

But he is the 3rd and in many ways a consequence of the others.

on.ft.com/4jAwxJ0

OMG you didn’t read the article and made yourself look silly by calling everyone else dumb. Get over it and in future read first and spout later.

It’s an interesting headline and not a lie.

Chinese EVs will be part of the policy.

So will some other makes and models.

Not as stupid as those that find a full article too many words.

“Our policies and procedures take account of the potential threats from all types of vehicle, not just those manufactured in China, and we have issued appropriate internal direction to all drivers and passengers,” he added.

“They’ll never decapitate a whale”, he wept…

Words were used this morning when I read this, as someone who’s solar is a net contributor and pays 100s of pounds of standing charge to give it to the grid.

Ursula von der Leyen: "We have no bros and no oligarchs" Donald Trump's second term has brought "historic changes", says EU President Ursula von der Leyen. In our interview, she explains how Europe must respond.

Super article.

Von der Leyen’s acknowledgment that she wouldn’t have predicted where we are right now is fair, but there is an air of not seeing tomorrow.

That worries me when she dismisses the possibility that the Brexit/Trump theme could manifest in Europe.

www.zeit.de/politik/2025...

It sort of made me queasy this article. It struck me more like a letter from a small place.

Advice to shell-shocked Americans from Brexit Britain Britons are skilled at navigating the humiliation unleashed by political and market chaos — allow us to give you some tips

I suspect if our intellectual elites had been less worried about the shame of group exclusion at international economics jollies and more by the shame felt by those left behind in 2008 we wouldn’t be where we are

on.ft.com/4jd86lr Advice to shell-shocked Americans from Brexit Britain

Increased bills for higher earners could fund UK energy upgrade, Ofgem says Regulator to consult industry on how to recover network costs via standing charge in a ‘more progressive’ way

@ofgem.bsky.social

Unbelievable….will we be able to offset solar installations against the standing charge and recoup our infrastructure investments.

I’ll just get back to powering my street.

www.theguardian.com/money/2025/a...

Javier Blas on China's Rare Earths Dominance Podcast Episode · Odd Lots · 15/04/2025 · 31m

What THEY won’t tell you about Rare Earth Metals !! 😂

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...

“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” H.L Mencken

If I had one criticism, the final discussion on how the world might look if the financial crash of 2008 hadn’t undermined faith in the elites treats that event like a tragic act of god visited upon them and so doesn’t address what could have been done differently to ensure faith was not lost.

Martin Wolf talks to Mervyn King: why central banks got inflation wrong The former BoE governor says ‘groupthink’ was an issue

This is excellent.

on.ft.com/3Rh3rm3 Martin Wolf talks to Mervyn King: why central banks got inflation wrong

The world was much better when people made ships on the Tyne. Just to be clear my family never made ships on the Tyne but other peoples family did, in all weather, but we were all very proud that other people did it and by god it would be better if other people still did.

Should probably rename MAGA to MEGA such is the way Donny Dumbo is turning Europe into the worlds reserve. US is going to miss this.

YouTube video by qwertt14 Brave Sir Robin

youtu.be/BZwuTo7zKM8?...

Treasury yield started recovering almost bang on European closing time. Looks like everyone now knows how to squeeze Donny Dumbo.

Donny Dumbo America’s shadow

'Art of The Squeal'

Great take! I was trying to remember where I’d seen it.

Might also be claimed that the market was in fact the biggest toddler tantrum in the room.