John Maynard Keynes made a prediction in 1930 that by 2030 we would be working 15 hours per week. And if AI lives up to its admittedly high expectations this may come true. Maybe not for all but at least for some of us. According to an article on Bloomberg, a financial news and data […]
Author: Grumpy Old Man
Prediction markets – a modern tool for forecasting
Insider trading, the buying and selling of financial instruments based on privileged information which is not available to a wider public is rightly forbidden. However, there is an other tool, often used by companies and investors to hedge their real-life exposure: Prediction markets. Prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket allow you to place bets […]
Sexy Olympics
Free condoms have been part of the Olympics since 1988, mainly for public health and safety reasons. Besides the public health messaging opportunity (i.e, to promote safe sex globally), during the games bring together thousands of highly energised athletes in their 20’s and 30’s from all over the world. Having trained intensely for years and […]
Ageing disgracefully
The demographic trends are undeniable: The world’s population is ageing, and in countries such as China and Japan has even started shrinking. In Britain people aged 65 and older are more than a fifth of the population. And they want to have fun. In a way, those over the age of 55 but under the […]
Embrace your Solitude
Loneliness is the great modern epidemic that no one wants to talk about, but everyone feels. It’s like that awkward relative at family gatherings – you know they’re there, but you’d rather pretend they don’t exist. And yet, here we are, in the age of technology and connectivity, more alone than ever. Isn’t it just […]
The Joy and Struggles of Self-Checkout Shopping
I remember that, a long time ago, after picking my groceries off the shelves at my local supermarket I used to join the queue at a till, wait for the people in front of me to painstakingly count their coins to pay the exact amount or even, for example in the U.K., write a cheque […]
Understanding Global Bullies: A Look at Power Dynamics
Many of us will at one point or another in our lives have been bullied, be it at school, at work or maybe even at home. So how to best deal with a bully? First, stay calm and don’t reward the behaviour. Bullies often want a reaction, be that fear, anger or embarrassment. Don’t give […]
Geopolitics: Trump’s Territorial Aspirations
With President Trump reportedly casting acquisitive glances toward Canada and Greenland, the world has been reminded of a long-lost genre of geopolitics: the real estate brochure. Borders, it turns out, are just zoning suggestions, and sovereignty is merely a lease agreement waiting to be renegotiated by someone with enough confidence and a very large Sharpie. […]
Wealth’s Dark Side: Lessons from the Epstein Saga
So, the U.S. government has by now dumped all or most of the files—emails, photos, the usual sordid fare—linked to Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier, sex offender, and all-round parasite. At the time of his death in 2019, Epstein was worth somewhere between $500 and $700 million. That kind of money doesn’t just buy you […]
The Myth of Long Hours: Rethinking Work Culture
In 2024, people aged 20–64 working in the EU spent on average 36 hours per week in their main job (full-time and part-time included). But there are quite some differences between countries: while the Dutch worked on average 32.1 hours per week, the Greek clocked up 39.8 hours. The Americans, on the other hand, work […]
The grumpy older man 