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December 19, 2023

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BLAME-RUSSIA GAME: BULGARIAN PM SUSPECTS MOSCOW IS BEHIND DRONE ATTACK IN BLACK SEA

Rumen Radev, the Bulgarian prime minister, said last week that he believes Russia is responsible for Wednesday’s drone attack on a Liberian-flagged ship near his country’s coast, which NATO said was the fifth attack in an alliance member’s territorial waters.

THE DOOMSDAY GOVERNMENT: PREPARING FOR THE END OF THE WORLD, NOT THE END OF POWER

This time of year, there is no shortage of monsters to frighten us.

TOP TREND 2023: OFFICE BUILDING BUST

The high interest rates bondholders now demand have sunk Europe’s value of office property sales in the third quarter to its lowest since 2009, during the Great Recession, when property prices were at their lowest, the Financial Times reported.

TRUMP SAYS HE HELPED SAVE NETANYAHU AFTER LAST-MINUTE ENDORSEMENT

President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social last week that his last-minute endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu played a central role in preventing the leader from suffering an electoral defeat last week.

GAZA DEATH TOLL

Israel has killed at least 74,615 Palestinians inside Gaza and wounded another 175,899 since October 2023.

PENTAGON: WAR WITH IRAN COST AMERICAN TAXPAYERS $47.1 BILLION AS OF 16 OCTOBER

The Pentagon informed Congress last week that the Iran War has cost the U.S. at least $47.1 billion, according to the department’s estimates as of 16 October, which is an increase of about $3.5 billion from early September when the Associated Press reported that the price tag was $43.6 billion.

IRAN TARGETED US AIR DEFENSES THEN HIT AIRCRAFT AND BUILDINGS ON MIDEAST BASES, AP ANALYSIS FINDS

Iran’s strikes on more than two dozen U.S. bases in the Middle East focused on early-warning systems before hitting aircraft and buildings, causing billions of dollars in equipment damage, according to an Associated Press analysis.

MICROSOFT OFFERS BUYOUTS TO 60,000 WORKERS AS AI TAKES OVER HUMAN JOBS

About 60,000 workers at the vice-presidential level and below will be eligible for buyouts as Microsoft hands more duties to AI and cuts costs to have more money to invest in the AI buildout.

FOOD AND HOUSING TAKE ALMOST HALF OF U.S. HOUSEHOLD INCOMES

The cost of food and housing claimed 46.9 percent of U.S. household incomes in 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) annual Consumer Expenditure Survey.

U.S. GDP GREW MORE THAN EXPECTED IN THIRD QUARTER

The U.S. economy grew by 3.4 percent in this year’s third quarter, with inflation factored out, the commerce department reported.

SPOTLIGHT: GEN Z REVOLUTION

As we had forecast, GEN Z Revolution was one of our Top Trends for 2026.

GOING OUT OF BUSINESS TRENDS

Despite the upbeat headlines about economic growth and resilient consumers, a growing number of businesses across multiple industries are filing for bankruptcy, shutting down operations, or preparing to close their doors permanently.

TOP IRANIAN NEGOTIATOR: U.S.’S CARROT-AND-STICK APPROACH TO DIPLOMACY WILL NOT WORK WITH IRAN

Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s Parliament speaker and chief negotiator, said last week that the U.S. is taking the wrong approach in its “carrot-and-stick” approach when negotiating with Tehran.

U.S. NATIONAL DEBT TOPS 100 PERCENT OF GDP

The U.S. government’s debt stood at $32.2 trillion on 30 September at the end of the federal fiscal year, the treasury reported.

TRUMP HATES NORWAY BECAUSE HE DIDN’T WIN THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

President Donald Trump seems to have shifted his stance regarding Norway after what he believed was a slight after he missed out on another Nobel Peace Prize, telling a rally in Michigan last Sunday that the country “sucks,” according to a report in The New York Times.

MORE MURDER ON THE HIGH SEAS: U.S. KILLS FIVE IN STRIKE ON VESSEL BELIEVED TO BE TRANSPORTING DRUGS IN THE PACIFIC

The U.S. announced on Thursday that it carried out a new strike on a suspected drug smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing five people on board and bringing the total death toll of these strikes to at least 240.

ECONOMIC UPDATE

The indisputable facts and data are signaling global Dragflation; declining economic growth and rising inflation.

A grey fabric bag labeled "DEBT" is balanced on top of stacked wooden blocks marked with percentage symbols.

U.S. NATIONAL DEBT TOPS 100 PERCENT OF GDP

The U.S. government’s debt stood at $32.2 trillion on 30 September at the end of the federal fiscal year, the treasury reported.

Concept illustration of global maritime trade security, supply chain vulnerabilities, and geopolitical disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz featuring a container ship, map and directional arrows, lock icons and a shield/dome overlay.

TRAFFIC THROUGH HORMUZ STRAIT IS 70 PERCENT BELOW PREWAR LEVEL

The number of cargo ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz was 70 percent below the typical number transiting the waterway before 28 February when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, according to the group U.K. Maritime Operations.

A large explosion with thick black and orange smoke billowing against a sky and a low tree-lined horizon.

IRAN MANAGED TO CAUSE BILLIONS IN DAMAGE ON U.S. BASES IN EARLY STAGE OF WAR

Satellite imagery revealed the extent of damage that the Iranians managed to inflict on American bases in the Persian Gulf, and the new revelations show Tehran’s ability to carry out precision strikes on vulnerable U.S. assets in the region.

A crowd of people participates in a public demonstration or street protest, with a person in the foreground holding a white megaphone.

SPOTLIGHT: GEN Z REVOLUTION

As we had forecast, GEN Z Revolution was one of our Top Trends for 2026.

The front of a vehicle at night with two bright upper headlamps and two lower auxiliary or fog lights illuminated against a dark, wet or gravelly road surface.

CAR HEADLIGHTS HAVE BECOME BLINDING

If you have recently found yourself driving on a dark road, there’s a good chance that you have been blinded by the headlights of a car in the opposite lane, a phenomenon that has caught the attention of highway safety researchers who have studied the trend.

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Global Economy

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SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING BIGGER

DoorDash, the U.S.’s largest food and restaurant delivery service, will pay $65 a share to buy Instacart, the online grocery shopping and delivery company.

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TOP TREND 2023: OFFICE BUILDING BUST

U.S. Economy

Finance and business concept, highlighting investment graphs overlaid with coin stacks on a table.

MARKET OVERVIEW

The tech-focused NASDAQ index fell 2.86 percent on Friday, its worst one-day drop since 5 June, after Amazon and Intel posted disappointing quarterly results, reigniting fears over the future of AI and its investment bubble.

An aerial view of a large parking lot at a logistics hub with multiple commercial semi-trucks parked in organized rows.

THE U.S. TRUCKING INDUSTRY HAS HIT THE SKIDS

This year through October, 221 U.S. trucking firms have gone bankrupt under pressure from soaring diesel fuel prices and steadily rising insurance premiums.

The Iran War