The JSPrice Perception

Gordon Brown in 2008 (Image: PA Images) Looking at the tricky global economic situation right now, I feel a sense of déjà vu. We, and perhaps Prime Minister Rishi Sunak more specifically, find ourselves in a similar position as in 2009. In 2008, the financial markets crashed, people left, right and centre were losing their jobs and it seemed like there was no way out of the mess. Watching news clips of Lehman Brothers' bankers in New York, leaving their offices with boxes of their goods in, will never leave my memory.  Of course, in 2023, we aren't seeing mass employment and crashing markets. In fact, the UK in particular has seen its FTSE 100 reach record highs in recent days, and the percentage of unemployed adults remains low . While this all sounds great, as in 14 years ago, many Britons are feeling the pinch. When domestic and foreign political affairs go pear shaped at once, as we're seeing now, it's impacting on everyday things that we take for granted. As a re...

Princes William and Harry (Image: Vanity Fair) Okay, it's time media commentators and royal 'experts' stop celebrating the fact that Prince Harry and Prince William ' will never speak to each other ever again', as Harry 'reveals all' in a Netflix documentary and new autobiography. The personalities who spout their views on TV and in newspapers may completely deny that they're happy to see two brothers conflicting and that their wives despise each other. Yet, I question why on earth they want to raise it at every opportunity. Reports of disharmony between Harry and William have been constant over the past three years. It was just as Covid-19 pandemic struck when Harry and his wife Meghan Markle - the Duke and Duchess of Sussex - decided to pack up and leave royal life in search for a way of living, the way they chose. This, apparently, impacted the brothers' relationship , and it simply gotten worse since.  These stories have been reported like earth...

Rail strikes have been big news in 2022 (Image: iNews) If there's anything we can take from 2022, it's that people around the world have had enough. This feeling had been brewing for a good couple of years, but the global pandemic put emotions to one side while the majority followed 'the establishment'.  Now government restrictions are history in the UK, Britons have spent recent months reflecting on Covid-19 and their lives more generally. For example, many, myself included, were part of the ' Great Resignation ' crew, by changing jobs and houses. And the total reopening of the economy would have meant businesses were able to breathe a sigh of relief; though we quickly learned there was little chance of that with (over the course of the year)  growth forecasts downgraded , trade deals with powerful nations like the United States stalling , mounting debt , rising interest rates and inflation , markets going doolally over radical announcements - the list goes on...

Martin Lewis (Image: Nottingham Post) Is it correct to say that we approached 2022 this time last year with relatively soft optimism? Even though the omicron variant of Covid-19 came to our lives with some government restrictions, there was a sense that it was the beginning of the end - not of the pandemic (that's still around), but end of the fact that we needed to stay at home for an illness that was now under some control. Thank you, science. However, that optimism was quickly met with sobering fear. While it was fantastic to start going outside without thinking too much about it resulting in spreading disease, there was a sense that nobody would soon be able to afford to go outside. Those industries (hospitality, theatre and retail in particular), who struggled during the height of the pandemic, knew that there would be new challenges on the horizon. The UK government arguably played down the ' cost of living crisis ' to begin with, despite even Conservative backbencher...

Elon Musk (Image: WIRED) Up until recently had I not taken an interest in Elon Musk. Any news stories about him, my natural instinct was to blank them out - whatever he did, and whatever business he owned, they had nothing to do with me. It's only when he took over Twitter, for a reported $44 billion , that I felt as though I needed to learn a little about him at the very least, considering I'm one of its millions of users and that, despite me not 'following' him, the vast majority of his tweets still appear on my news feed. If any of you wanted to discover more about Musk, I suggest you watch the fantastic and fascinating three-part documentary series , aired on the BBC earlier this year. It explored his rise to fame, how he became the richest human on Earth, his successes and struggles, and his future visions. We heard from everyone who knew him, including his nearest and dearest, and business associates and colleagues who either hold him to the highest regard, disreg...

Anti-Iranian regime protests have stepped up in recent weeks (Image: Middle East Institute) I last wrote about Iran in August when the country appeared to be on the verge of signing a fresh nuclear deal, which aimed to ease the world's fears that it would develop devastating weapons. Three months on and that deal is still yet to be finalised; probably because the negotiators are wondering what next for Iran, as its regime faces an uncertain future. Let's trace back to 16th September, where 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was doing what any unassuming human would do on a typical day - minding her own business and being herself. That was until the so-called 'morality' police noticed that her headscarf was out of place and before long, her life was to end in almost a flash. Her death was shocking, but sadly not the first in the hands of a regime that thrives on toxicity and tension when things don't go its way. Amini's passing has led to widespread protests; even greater...

Rishi Sunak's problems are how big? (Image: The Sun Daily) It isn't an overstatement to say that the situation in Westminster is even more volatile now than when I last wrote on here  a few short weeks ago. Days after it, Liz Truss was given the boot - she was Britain's Prime Minister for less than two months. In comes Rishi Sunak, who lost to Truss in the Conservative leadership campaign just weeks previous. The job quite conveniently landed on his lap. He knew that he'd have a honeymoon period, after being praised for his accurate  predictions of the markets' reaction to Truss's economic plan. Sunak's appointment has been met with a somewhat surprising range of reactions; while Tory MPs are keen to move on from the Party's rocky episode, Conservative supporting commentators were split; some believing it's a 'globalist' coup (which is laughable). Away from that, the views remain blunt. Due to the nature of how he got the top job - in that...