A new technology is being hyped as world changing, a resurgent republican party has reclaimed The Whitehouse and regional war seems inevitable in the Middle East while an unpopular, increasingly authoritarian Labour party seems more interested in cosying up to a new President and looking tough internationally, than in dealing with problems at home.
The year, of course, is 2001 and that popping noise is the end of the ‘dot com’ bubble. Now, history may not repeat itself, but, as the saying goes, it often rhymes. As we move through 2025, we’re facing a cash poor, overly consolidated, overleveraged, and overpromising generative AI industry bubble, we’re likely to see inflationary pressures in the US from immigration action and tariffs, we have continuing inflationary pressures from ongoing wars, one of which could cause a rapid increase in oil prices should it escalate and we have already seen, in the US, an inversion of the yield curve of one and two year government bonds as Warren Buffet stockpiles cash.
To coin another phrase - when the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold, and this leaves us in an interesting place. On the cusp of 2025, I can say with some confidence that we are likely to be no more than 12 to 18 months from a serious recession (JP Morgan gave this a conservative 45% chance back in August) - but what can we do to prepare?
There are two considerations here behind my recommendations - what has been proven to work in surviving and thriving during periods of economic downturn, and what will be the most beneficial to brands in the unlikely event I’m wrong. For that reason, this ebook covers the following three things:
- Doubling down on brand and building trust
- A focus on human creativity and proven efficiencies
- Diversification of income streams
