The budget this year has made me think about where this world is going. Not that there was anything good expected from this meaningless annual exercise.

From the casino-like world of crypto (now boosted by the highest levels of our government) to the pursuit of easy profits for a few through finance and real estate, it seems every year we are being pushed to becoming a society of speculators and gamblers.

We used to think lifelong career jobs or building businesses are long-term ventures which are going to provide us with a decent quality of life once we succeed in either. Success was expected to come after climbing the corporate ladder for umpteen years and if we were building a business then rewards could come for the next generation as the current generation puts in the hard work!

But the old paths to economic stability no longer work. People feel not just left behind but locked out. The promise to work hard, save money and build slowly no longer makes much sense when the price of your children’s education or your dream home rises faster than your paycheck ever can!

For these reasons speculation has become central to our lives. It is how we try to beat stagnation and economic deprivation.

When the real economy stops delivering, anyone with even a small amount of capital does not sit idly by. They look elsewhere and hence money goes into whatever assets might go up in price; property, stocks, gold, currencies and yes crypto!

One cannot blame people for thinking that if you cannot earn your way to a better life, maybe you can bet your way there. It does not matter what the asset is, if someone else might buy it for more tomorrow.

Speculation is therefore a rational response to a deeper economic failure, to a long slump in the economy that has reshaped what a common man can aspire to.

I am not worried about my generation. We have done the best we could and built lives on the old formula of hard work and gradual success. But the next generation and those to follow must live in this new gaming world!

What bothers me is that we know that there are hardly any winners in that world!

Worth thinking about 🤔