CONFERENCE DIARY

Colourful words of introduction

Event chair Bill Jamieson, right, was full of flowery and descriptive language. He welcomed Cazenove Capital Management as “that most blue-blooded of financial institutions”, while Russell Napier was “by far and away the most cheerful pessimist I have ever met”. Donald Trump (not in attendance), was a “maverick and all-tweeting President.”

Out of this world

Merryn Somerset-webb quoted a surprising source at the start of her presentation – The Fortean Times: “I picked it up expecting to read an article asking ‘Is Donald Trump an alien?’ and there was an article asking ‘Is Donald Trump an alien?’ When she asked the audience whether they thought Trump was an alien, the majority were reluctant to share their views.

What a difference a day makes…

Tom Walker quoted the campaign trail Trump and President Trump and asked delegates to spot the difference. The campaign trail quote described a “big, fat, ugly bubble” but the in-power quote was rather different: “Trillions of dollars of value have been created since I won the election – I mean trillions.” Contradictory quotes by the Donald – who’d have believed it?

Imponderable factors

Walker returned to Trump as he described the “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns” of former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He concluded: “Under Trump, nobody knows.”

Feeling the heat

Bob Hair alarmed Bill Jamieson with his description of how frogs put in cold water then heated to boiling point failed to realise they were going to die because the water warmed up so gradually. After he completed his presentation, Jamieson said: “I am now really feeling the heat, like the boiling frog.”