Microsoft at last learns something from Apple

Kinect is an amazing technology that could/can radically improve the interface between humans and computers.

I recently attended a presentation given by a senior MS guy who showed some video of a hacked Kinect box helping somebody in a wheelchair navigate a supermarket. 


This video and article demonstrate that MS have got the message that there is a bigger world than games for the technology.


As I keep saying, the interface is where we are going to see the greatest improvements for oldies. I can imagine the ad agency briefing for this video. "OK, guys what we want you to do is think how Apple would advertise the technology and then do it".


MS, better late than never you are understanding that emotions sell kit. Dick Stroud

Retirement Reset - and reset again

 I haven't heard anything from Ken Dychtwald for ages. Looks like he has been working with SunAmerica on a study about how the recession affected the attitudes and plans of older Americans. 

You can watch a quick video, read the report or skim through a press article about the conclusions. 

My fear is that it is a bit to premature to be talking about the effects of the recession since the recession is still in the process of emerging. Perhaps the report should make it clear that it is about Recession 1 (sub prime induced) this will be small beer compared with Recession 2 (soverign debt related). 

As always, he is an interesting guy to hear. 

The Saga Index report for Q4 is in the process of being released - a press release but no report - not good Saga. Once it is ready I will comment upon its conclusions. One thing appears to be emerging is that attitudes in the UK are still going south but may be stabilising.

Either that or they are having a rest before another plunge. Seriously, there is only so much doom and gloom that you can deal with before older people start to find coping mechanisms. That doesn't mean that the situation has improved but that we get better at handling the negative emotions it creates - for a time. Dick Stroud 

The ageing population is big business – but please don’t involve the planners

There is an article in today’s FT entitled: “Time to end the taboo and have an industrial policy again.” Sorry, it is paywall protected.


The gist of the argument is that we need to let the planners loose on the economy rather than have the the markets sort it out. 


The example they give for why we need gaggles of planners is the ageing population. If only we could get everybody around a big table, knock a few heads together, do buckets loads of coordinating (employ lots of consultants like the article’s authors) then the promised land would heave into view – old people would have the benefits of ‘new technology’, the UK would ‘grow’ and cows will fly.


I have sat through more meetings of the type proposed, contributed to more UK and EU studies (costing zillions) about ageing and business and heard more ‘strategic’ claptrap than most people. Are they worthwhile – do they work – is this the way forward. No, no, no and thrice more no. 


There is a wall of technology and good ideas to aid the older age group. There is a library full of reports about every last aspect of demographic change and its implications. So why don’t all of the pieces fall into place and things start to work?  


Listening to experts - I mean people who really know what is going on and who work day in and day out in this area – not a couple of strategic thinkers – the message is crystal clear. The problem is government and government institutions. 


The thought that the very people that are the biggest barrier to the adoption of technology are capable of planning its development is beyond ridicule. The FT should be more careful who it selects to write its articles. Dick Stroud

Blimey I thought I was a pessimist

The End of the American Dream is the sort of web site that is bound to make even the greatest optimist miserable. Read these two articles about the over-65s and Boomers. You will see what I mean. Unfortunately, I agree with a lot that is said. Dick Stroud

Could Sarcopenia and Metabolic syndrome be important to your marketing

The odds are that you don't have the faintest idea about the difference between Sarcopenia and Metabolic Syndrome. Why should you? 


If you are interested in the older market then you might want to get an understanding of why these medical conditions could be important to how you go about doing things.


Brent Green has an excellent blog posting about Sarcopenia (it is all to do with how we lose muscle strength as we age). Very comprehensive. 


What about Metabolic Syndrome? This is an age-neutral medical condition but has a lot of takers in the older age group. The term refers to the combination of medical disorders that increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes.


These conditions have a direct impact on the products we buy, consumer attitudes and the customer touch-points. I think that 2012 is going to be the year that Physiological Ageing and how it impacts all factors of business gowa mainstream. You have been warned. Dick Stroud

Boomer Values Realignment Study - a disappointment

A read the title of this study and thought that it should be interesting. It wasn't.

A group of Boomers, minimum household income of $75k, were questions about their concerns and desires and how things have changed because of the big 'R'.

I suppose my test for a good research study is if it surprises me or tells me something that I (and zillions of other marketers) didn't know or couldn't have guessed, if we had been plied with a few decent glasses of chilled Sauvignon Blanc.

I mean, who is surprised with results like these:

70% are concerned that the U.S. is slipping in its global position 66% are concerned for their children’s future more than their own
61% believe it is “very” hard to be confident about the future with all the media talk about the economy
86% believe obesity and sedentary lifestyles are a big problem in the united States
83% believe companies need to focus more on long-term growth rather than short-term profits
61% agree there are too few “haves” and too many “have nots.”
93% want to put more intention into their “health and wellbeing.”
88% describe a positive aspect of retirement is the ability to “spend time with family and friends.”

OK, so these are the sorts of eye candy 'facts' that litter presentations but aren't they just plain common sense?

I suppose there are a few things that surprise me - only 70% think is slipping in its global position and that 'only' 66% are more concerned for their children's future than their own. But so what? Dick Stroud 

Employment stats for 50 - 64 year olds

These are the latest numbers (Nov 2011) for the change in the employment status of 50-64 year-olds in the UK.

A very mixed picture. Of course the stats don't take account of the difference in the total number of older people in the age category since last year. Without that bit of information it is hard to see what is happening.

It would be much better to express the numbers relative to the total universe of people in age cohort - anybody from ONS reading this? Dick Stroud

Who will inherit the passwords?

I do hope High50 is doing OK. I really like the design of their site and their style of content. In this week's e-mail newsletter there was an article about digital inheritance, a subject I have never considered.  


The article is based on a report by rackspace (cloud hosting company) that draws attention to the value of all of those bytes of data that we have stashed away on our computers.  

The key finding is that Brits have £2.3bn worth of digital possessions in the cloud. 

Who knows if this figure is remotely correct but it does raise an interesting point and highlights a business opportunity. A quote from one of the report's authors.

 “People pass on things they would have valued traditionally but that have now taken digital form: photographs, home videos, books and music. Some people pass on a list of log-ins to their accounts, though not everyone wants their heirs having access to private communications and thoughts, and some opt instead for a specific filtered set of things they value and believe their heirs will value.
 

 “Lawyers are driving a lot of the early adoption of digital inheritance practices by raising the issue with clients when drawing up or updating wills. Often people simply wouldn’t have thought about it but suddenly realise that, yes, there are digital objects or accounts they value and want to pass on.”

As a Wired columnist said:  “The internet has the same issues any other repository – the balance of accessibility and security. That is, if you give your wife the keys to the safety deposit box for when you die, you run the risk that she will use the safety deposit box key during your lifetime and find out about your second wife in Derby. And vice versa.” Guess he has a point.


Rackspace certainly thinks that there is a chance to make a few bob out of high security cloud computing to lock away your digital secrets. I am sure other companies will follow. Dick Stroud

Why the Boomerang 'child' might have their 30th birthday at home

VibrantNation.com has done some research in the US and concludes that: "“Today’s tough economic climate makes the ‘empty nest’ a dream deferred, at least for Boomers.” That is not going to come as a shock to most people.

86% of the their sample expect their adult children to remain at home for six months or more, up from 84% in 2010. Three quarters of respondents blame the economy. 

The thing that interested me was that nearly a third of 'children' living at home are 30-plus.

In the UK 'children' do not expect to purchase their first home until they are 38 years old, according to Moneysupermarket. 

I really don't think companies have got their head around the impact of multigenerational households and the affect on purchase decisions and consumption patterns. Dick Stroud

L’Oreal is to use a geo-location app to target "time poor" baby boomers.

L'Oreal, which also owns Garnier and Maybelline, is targeting people born after WWII with much of its app development because it believes they are the generation that want to make the most of their leisure time. 


Speaking at the Forrester Marketing and Strategy Forum the head honcho of the company's digital business, says: “If we can give them the information in their hand it simplifies their life, it saves them time. Free time is a luxury and if you can tap into that, it is great and we can do it. The big transformation in the retail market is that more and more people believe in proximity. So if you combine the power of technology with proximity you start have a powerful tool”.


I had a quick look on iTunes and there is no sign of the app - maybe it is a US only release or maybe it is still in development.


Maybe this an app looking for consumer? Dick Stroud

Gay retirement communities - a lucrative market segment

For the last couple of years I have been talking with Out Now, Europe's top gay and lesbian marketing consultancy, about the business opportunities presented by Grey and Gay consumers.

The more articles like this I read the more convinced I am that marketers should start to take this group seriously. Dick Stroud

Making the best of the recession

A couple of years ago I wrote a lot about the impact of the recession on marketing. I was about 2 years too soon in my analysis.


It is only now that we are seeing the marketing world wake up to the fact that things are changing and there is money to be made from consumer anxiety.


Well done JWT for launching this web site dedicated to the anxieties of American  consumers. 


I thought this was a nice way of visualising angst and its causes. No idea what you do with it but it would make a nice PowerPoint slide. Dick Stroud

Government policy of hitting the over-65s

This is a Saturday morning rant, although the consequences of what it describes affect marketers targeting the over-65s.

I am not a subscriber to conspiracy theories. I always wince when I hear people trying to convince me of how politicians concoct complex events to achieve their goals. When I am listening, in the back of my mind, lingers my abysmal experience of dealing with politicians and their advisers. It is a mystery to me that they are able tie their own shoelaces let alone string together complicated economic intrigues.

I have started to think I might be wrong.

I have always wondered why David Willetts wrote his book ‘Pinch’ which set off a tirade of “nasty boomers” emotion.  The ripples of his nonsense continue with second and third generations of useful idiots like the intergenerational foundation.

Any objective look at government ‘policy’ can only conclude that they have been anti-old.

The highest profile of these is the lack of policy and any real concern about the chaotic and cruel way that older people are dealt with by hospitals. Report after report, press comment after press comment shows that there is a systemic failure within UK’s hospitals that results in terrible hardship and deaths of the frailest people in our society.

Sure, each report generates the usual claptrap about “lessons have been learnt” and “we need more training” ….. but nothing changes. If children were suffering the same level of abuse then something would have been done. The government has decided to turn its eyes and hope it goes away.

Allied to the NHS disaster is the unwillingness of government to act about the cuts to care budgets by local authorities. The only way that care can be guaranteed it to ring-fence the budgets. They have been told this time and time again but refuse to act. It now looks like the issue will be sorted in the courts.

Willetts was told about the disaster of the unstable finances of the care industry 18 months before the Southern Cross collapse – he and his government just sat there and watched the nightmare unfold and its continuing descent in chaos.

We now move to the policy of letting inflation rip. We have the pantomime story of the Governor of the Bank of England writing countess letters to the Chancellor of the Exchequer explaining why yet again he has failed to do anything to cut the rate of inflation. Of course we all know that it is government policy to run a high rate of inflation to burn up the pile of debt it inherited. Who suffers? Primarily people with savings – who are they? The old.

Now we have a government minster telling us the obvious that: 'Clearly, there is a short and not-so-short-term hit in all of all this, I fully accept that. 'Low interest rates and quantitative easing have their impact, but if what it does is get the economy on a firm foundation and the economy is growing and we get prosperity – and pensions ultimately depend on that – that’s the trade-off.'

Surely he doesn’t believe this idiocy? I bet he does.

The result of letting money supply rip (now given the daft name of ‘quantitative easing’ has been to reduce the income available on a £100,000 pension pot for a 65-year-old man from more than £6,100 to less than £5,500 since this policy started two years ago.

The final piece of the conspiracy pie is the answer to the question: “ surely they wouldn’t do this if it resulted in them losing  the older vote.” The simple answer is they have calculated that it will cause little electoral damage.  The older vote has an inbuilt Conservative bias and it appears that the government is working on the assumption: ”They have nowhere to go”  (i.e. the alternative political parties are even worse). Ask most 65+ how they would like Miliband and Balls running the country and it is enough to initiate a cardiac seizure.

All my instincts tell me that what I have just described is well beyond the ability of politicians to do but with every new bit of “kick the oldies” policy they enact makes me wonder. Dick Stroud

Apple get it about Boomers - nice that more people agree

For a year or so Kim Walker and I have been explaining how Apple "gets it" when developing products and marketing them to Boomers. 

I don't think for a minute that they sit down to try and achieve this objective but the result is that what happens. 

This item in Mashable comes to the same conclusion. Dick Stroud

Don't lecture me - don't make me feel guilty

In the UK we have a weird payment that drops through the letter box of all retired people at Xmas called the Winter Fuel Allowance.

In these troubled time it has been the target for a lot of intergenerational griping.

As you would expect there are a lot of young people who "don't think it is fair" that oldies get a cheque from HM Gov at Xmas whilst all they get is the thought of paying fees for their education. I guess you can see their point of view - but only up to a point. A very, very small point.

The worst gripers are the wealthy old themselves who either because they want a few more minutes in the media spotlight or who genuinely feel guilty having amassed larges sums of money having never exhibited any real talent. A classic case of somebody who suffers both of these ills is Joan Bakewell.

Why am I telling you this? Well, I have lots of debates with others (and myself) about the importance of attitudes that are associated with age cohorts. In the main I don't think they exist or if they do they are far less important than the attitudes that arise for other reasons (i.e. the person's education, income, health etc).

There is one emotion that I think does touch a lot of my generation and that is that they hate being lectured, especially by others who have their own agendas. Secondly, there is a distrust of giving money to a bunch of do-gooders rather than giving it directly to somebody who would spend it wisely.

As you can see I am disclosing some of my own thoughts.

So I will make a prediction that this campaign Surviving Winter will be a flop. It will be interesting to see how it works out. Dick Stroud

Why bother with the rest of the UK?

This graphic shows the distribution of millionaires in the UK. Notice anything? See the long blue line on the bottom? The number situated in that small bit of the UK is roughly the same number as the rest of the UK put together. The data is from Barclays.


As the recession really starts to bite I suspect this difference is going to become even more extreme. 


If you are targetting the upper income groups it makes your decision about where to focus your marketing really easy. Dick Stroud

According to the US press (using Census data) the number of Americans ages 55 to 64 who moved to Sun Belt states since the recession has been on the decline.

The slowdown is part of a continued drop in the mobility of all Americans. Only 11.6% — 35 million — changed residence from 2010 to 2011, the lowest rate since the Census Bureau began collecting the statistics in 1948. In the mid-1980s, more than 20% were moving each year.

Instead of heading off to the sun the older boomers are staying put because they can't sell their homes or can't afford to retire. "There's economic uncertainty in all areas," says the head of marketing PulteGroup, the largest developer of 55-plus communities such as Del Webb and Sun City.

Recently I spent some time with a US developer of retirement villages and he was telling me just how tough it is to generate money for new developments. It seemed that at the top end of properties that things were holding up but at the high volume end it was tanking. I suspect the same could be said about the UK. Dick Stroud

Just watch this it will only take 4 minutes of your life

 I think this is one of the most amazing presentations in terms of the energy, information imparted and the technology used to make the data 'sing'. Hans Rosling's 200 countries, 200 years, 120,000 data points in 240 seconds.

It will also give you an idea why the world is as it is today. Just brilliant. Dick Stroud

Some good news for the Care Industry - bad news for local authorities

A High Court judgement has recently declared the actions of a local authority (Sefton) illegal when it tried to freeze the funding it made available for the care of the elderly. Read the full article on the BBC web site.

The way local authorities have been behaving in the UK has been disgraceful and now we find it is also illegal. Old people were seen as easy targets for cuts so the the councils could maintain the payment of sky high pensions to their own workers. As I have been saying for a couple of years the care industry is in a mess - just read this.

Now maybe councils will have to get to grips with looking for real savings in their budgets rather than putting all of the pain onto the elderly. Great decision by the courts and a good news for the care industry who whilst still suffering from the recession will at least get some chance of increasing their fees in line with inflation. Dick Stroud

The young apprentices market to the over-50s

If you are in the UK you can watch this amusing and instructive episode of the Young Apprentice when they are set a task of sourcing and selling products to the over-50s.

Personally, I think they made a much better job of it than when the older apprentices were given the same task.

The venue for testing how good their product sourcing had been was the 50+  Show in London.

Having spoken at this event and attended it I know the audience are a tad older than 50. I suspect the median age is in the mid-60s as you will see from the iPlayer video. When you want to take a break from the traumas of the day then do watch. Dick Stroud

Research from Forrester about online spending habits

According to Forrester, older boomers (age 56-66) spend the most online of all generations.

Sorry about the quality of the image but if you should just about be able to make out the figures.

I am sure that the consultancy will sell you a nice copy of the chart but you will require your credit card at the ready.

If you believe the data it would seem that older boomers spent an average of $367 online in the 3 months preceding the report (November 2011).

This is more than double the amount spent online ($138) by “Gen Z” adults (age 18-22) in that time period.

“Younger Boomers” (age 46-55) are the next biggest spenders ($318), closely followed by “Gen Y” adults (age 23-31), who spent an average of $311.

Overall, 72% of US online adults purchased products and services online, spending an average of $292 over the 3-month period. The top products bought online by all age demographics were apparel/clothing and accessories, purchased by 38% of Gen Z adults and 37% of Gen Y adults.

So there you are. I am not sure how these numbers stack up against those in the Europe.

The figure I thought most interesting was the amount spent by the 66+ (the Golden Generation). Don't forget that these numbers refer to those people online not to the total age group. Dick Stroud

Webinar about Asia Pacific and Age Friendliness

Next Tuesday, November 15, I am conducting a Webinar with Kim Walker at 9:30 AM (Central Time) - it will last an hour.

Kim is going to be talking about the ageing population situation in Asia Pacific. For those of you who do not know, Kim is the leading marketer on ageing issues in AsiaPac.

I will be joining him to talk about a new tool that we have been developing that enables companies to improve their age-friendliness. For those of you who follow my blog you will not be surprised that it is cloud and app based.

You can sign-up for session on the IMMN site. Hope you can join us. Dick Stroud

Boomer wishful thinking

A research project that was undertaken by a group including the Harvard school of Public Health that found that US Boomers have an unrealistic ideas about their life post-retirement.

Most baby boomers say they're planning on an active and healthy retirement but when you compare their ideas to the reality, as expressed by retirees, there is a bit of a gap.

The image shows the proportion of people saying they expect the factors to be worse - the pre-retirees. This is compared to retirees who say that it has been worse in retirement than it was in the previous five years.

Maybe this is to be expected since the future is rarely like you expect it to be - at any age. Dick Stroud

Expect to see a lot more developments in gesture sensing

An analyst report suggests that the market for the hardware and software components needed to enable gesture recognition in products such as the Kinect was worth $200 million in 2010 and will be worth $625 million by 2015.

That's pretty steep growth.

I sam really excited about the possibilities of gesture sensoring to make it easier for older people to access electronic devices - note I didn't just say computers. If this is an area of technology that interests you then have a read of this article in Technology Review. 

I didn't realise that PrimeSense, an Israeli company, was the supplier of Kinect's gesture-sensing hardware. The founder of this company said that : "His company was really focused on the living room because it really needs to change, previous attempts to integrate computers into television watching, such as Google TV, have been hamstrung by the need for complicated remote controls that often incorporate a keyboard." This is definitely a subject to monitor. Dick Stroud

Matthew Parris has definitely taken the red pill

I am sorry but I am going to keep on referring to my blog posting about red and blue pills. Why? Because it is probably the most important one I have written since I began blogging, 3,000 blog postings ago.

Yesterday's Times had an article by Matthew Parris, I guy who I greatly admire and who writes in a way I can only dream of copying.
Sorry New Internetional but I am going to directly quote a section of his article. I will now start listening from strange bleeps on my mobile phone (just joking).


As our strange times unfold, more and more do I believe that the story of the politics and economics of the Western world has become the story of evasion. 
We in the West are looking for escape routes from the obvious, looking for someone to blame, something to postpone the unavoidable. We look away from what stares us in the face: the imperium of the West is over, never to return. 
Our predominance is gone. Our inheritance is diminished. We are being humbled, and will not be raised up again. We have overstretched our own resources. We have been outspending our own budgets. Our output has been falling behind while our shopping habits have been racing ahead. We’re broke and have no means of getting rich again. Greece is only the the most grotesque example: a caricature of the condition afflicting us all. 
Future historians should call these decades the Great Evasion.

Let me say this again - this is a fantastic opportunity. There will a massive demand for products and services designed to cope with this new reality. But as long as you think that sometime soon things are going to return to 'normal' you have no hope of exploiting this opportunity. Have a good Sunday. Dick Stroud

The link between phone and post to send photos

Postagram is way of sending photos to the poor saps who are not able to receive them via their phone, tablet or computer. You know, the old folks who can only communicate via the post.

Actually, it is not a bad idea. Don't forget in the UK there are 10 million people who do not regularly use the Internet. I know that is hard to believe but it is true. Dick Stroud

Smartphone uptake data from Nielsen

More data from Nielsen about the uptake of smartphones - this time from the US.


I wonder when the last dumbphone will be made? Dick Stroud

The sub-prime student - bad news

Before the dreaded word "sub-prime" entered the general vocabulary it had been talked about on the inside pages of the financial press for at least a year before.

As we all know the term was applied to property that people bought on cheap credit, the value declined and they couldn't afford the mortgage repayments. 

Well the term sub-prime is now being applied to students who have much in common with a dilapidated apartment that nobody wants to buy that has too much debt and too little demand. Sorry guys, this is not supposed to be an insult but rather an interpretation of the facts.

This article in Business Week is worth reading. It is scary and also applies to the UK. 

To give you a feel for the magnitude of the problem. The outstanding value of student loans in the US is $500 billion and is expected to reach a $1,000 billion ($1,000,000,000,000) this year. 

Maybe they should provide all potential students with red pills before they start to accumulate debt?

This issue has mega serious financial implications but at more local level it highlights the declining purchasing power of the younger consumer. Let's hope bank Mum and Dad has strong lines of credit. Dick Stroud

Older women outnumber older male Facebook users

I am just doing some reading for an article and came upon this research from the US. 

The source appears to be Facebook. Looks like women's more socialable nature is just as much in their online as offline life. Dick Stroud

Interesting insight into ageing in Russia

One of my many Google alerts identified this article about the need of Russians to continue working after the retirement age.

Why should Russians be any different to the rest of the world?

I quote - According to Moscow's department of political economy and development, 18 percent of the Russian work force is made up of pensioners. That figure rises to 21 percent in education and 22 percent in health care. About 97 percent of teachers continue working after they could retire.

I am not sure what most people can do with this information unless you are thinking of targeting the Russian market for 50-plus products and services. Dick Stroud

Muddled press releases

Like Chuck, I get a lot of press releases and I share his gripes about the quality.

When you get a well structured and quality release it makes an impact and if it is relevant I will normally mention it in this blog. Unfortunately, the majority are full of motherhood statements and dodgy numbers. The cynic in me would say: "like some of the consultancy reports I have produced" Dick Stroud

Recently announced developments for the ageing in place world

As usual, Laurie Orlov's blog provides a good update about new applications and products appearing in the ageing in place space. 


It looks to me like this is becoming a very crowed place. Dick Stroud

Hows My Mom - another new app based care application

This is a simple application for relieving guilt for not visiting your relative who is in care.

It is not clear to me who pays. It would appear that the families and the care providers get it for free. I can only assume it is an advertising based model.

I was suprised that the application is text based. I would have thought it would have been better to have used sound and video.

Like all of the zillions of apps aimed at health / care / oldies it all comes down to the strength of the business model. The tech side is the easy bit. Dick Stroud

Marketers – should start popping the red pills

 Have you ever had that feeling that things are not what they seem? You know, out of the corner of your eye you get a glimpse of a reality that disappears in a flash.

The world seems to jog along OKish but you know that something is wrong – horribly wrong. 

Remember that famous scene in the Matrix when Morpheus gave Neo the option to take the red or the blue pill? I think I have inadvertently swallowed the red pill and it is frightening.

As I look into the faces of people going about their day-to-day lives I wonder if they realize what is happening? Now I know that you would have to be a reclusive hermit not to appreciate that all is not well with the global financial system. Sure we know that things are bad – the media revels in the confused babel from the protesters in London, Madrid, Greece and America. The European heads of state meet yet again for the “last chance” to save the Euro and then meet again when the Greek Prime Minster scuppers their savior plan before the ink is dry.

The Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury overnight morph into global economists and make pronouncements on subjects they know nothing about. Growth is down or dead. The squeezed middle is squeaking. But you know that none of these people have popped the red pill. They all think that if they shout and demonstrate; maybe eviscerate some nasty bankers and stamp their feet hard enough they will convince their governments to pull the handle marked ‘growth’ that we will return their life to the good old days.

Tax the rich – help the poor and hey presto we are back to ‘normal’. If you have taken the red pill you know that is not going to happen. You know these are all fruitless imbecilic and sad gestures.

The real reality is of Europe and America is in accelerating decline with small pockets of competitive industry. Legions of jobs that were created by government spending and consumer debt are fast evaporating. The massive move of economic vibrancy from West to East, that was masked by trillions of $/£/Euros of borrowing, is speeding up. The option to borrow more to plaster over the cracks has stopped.

The standard of living that most people enjoyed for the past two decades is declining at a faster and faster rate. The ruling class of politicians, administrators academics and business people have no idea what to do to halt the change.

But these are great times. When there is chaos there are opportunities. We are set for a prolonged period of diminishing growth – falling living standards – probably civil unrest – but all of these things create the demand for new products and services. Those with crystalized income (what we call wealth) mainly the old will become increasingly important consumers. The majority of them don’t have enough money for the rest of their days but they have a lot more than their kids. Who would have thought that it takes a breach in the economic continuum to destroy our youth centric culture? 

The question you have to ask is this a pile of nonsense? It is certainly one reality. Take the red pill and see what you think or pop the blue one and go home - like the rest of your friends - and wake up in dreamworld. Dick Stroud