Wrecking ball.

As I suspected U.S. President Trump went off on one over NATO funding. He says he has a commitment and seems to have upset a lot of U.S. allies getting it, Germany in particular. What would the U.S do if Germany insisted it pull all its troops out of the country and close U.S. bases? According do a recent poll 42 per cent of Germans now want this to happen. Maybe a few glasses were raised in the Kremlin over recent events. Trump is going to meet President Putin again after what could be a fractious visit to the UK, popular he is not. What will the world’s media say if the Trump/ Putin meeting goes great? I wonder. Well, not too hard actually. Trump seems to be like a wrecking ball to everything he hasn’t created, which is almost everything I think.

More trade tariffs look set to be imposed on China, which will present the world’s number two economy with some headaches. China likely doesn’t import enough from the U.S. to go toe to toe with tariffs. So, I would not be surprised to see U.S. businesses in China having some regulatory and maybe worse difficulties, which could really rock the boat. China could also sell some or even all its U.S. debt, which would rock the boat a lot more for China too as it will make a loss. In addition, and I think this has started already, the U.S may find it harder to sell its oil in some markets. There may be trouble ahead.

I warned about all this years ago about putting western businesses in China. Get me an analyst position please, I’m ready. Humour aside, China could really deliver some hard blows to the U.S./western economies. Maybe the U.S. administration is using China as a whipping post to deflect the blame over North Korea talks not going too well. If I was a world leader I’d be hoping to stay out of the Trump spotlight until he goes away. All things pass, right?

Brexit is back in the big news again with major UK government resignations. Former Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson likened the Brexit deal to polishing a turd, nice. I would not be at all surprised if there was a stalking horse leadership challenge against Theresa May, with the big guns coming out later. The Conservatives in the UK are split over Brexit, fudge or stick it, seem to be the choices. With the intransigence of the EU over negotiations thus far I’m inclined to think that maybe, stick it, may prevail.

We must do something about plastics. A return to the 1950s and early 1960s packaging? I’m cool with that, glass, paper and cardboard mostly. And/or, try to find a way to make plastic recyclable. Given the amount of money invested in plastic I’m kind of inclined that this may be the main direction of travel. We still have to get rid of all that other stuff though. Lots of work to do.