The Sh*t Show: the global economy is roiling

Send us Fan MailPresidents’ Xi and Trump are meeting in China right now, with experts predicting it will shape relations between the two great nations for at least the next decade. Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz remains in a stalemate, gunshots were heard in the Philippines Senate as a senator wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) sought refuge, Sir Keir Starmer continues to fight for his life, with the question being asked – is the media responsible? and there’s a new term – the sad wives of AI. In the meantime, our seas are rising rapidly with scientists struggling to understand why, META thinks users should be responsible for behaviour when it comes to its smart glasses, Trump abandons his Gold Coast Tower ambitions because the Trump brand is toxic in Australia, popularity polls in the US are showing Trump falling off a cliff at home as consumer prices skyrocket, and datacentres are draining water and cutting off energy in regions around the world. The backdrop to all of this is the global economy. It’s roiling in every direction, with doom and gloom the dominant narrative right now, with more experts finally talking about the cumulative impacts of both the war in Iran, and the forthcoming El Niño, which is expected to amplify the current crisis over the longer term. That doesn’t sound good, so how do we make sense of it? This week we are delighted to welcome Marco Jean Aboav, PhD, to help us understand where we are and what’s happening. Marco has spent more than 15 years in research, portfolio management, and building fintech infrastructure for public capital markets. He is the co-founder of Etna Research, an AI lab for financial services, who help institutional clients and asset owners in their quest for performance on long-only and absolute return mandates across equity, macro and crypto. He’s also VP and community builder for PugliaTechs - a nonprofit organization working to transform Puglia into a global tech hub, has worked as an external Fintech/AI advisor on the AWS Loft program, was a senior fellow at the Aspen Institute, and a whole lot more. So come and join us as we step back and look at where we’re headed from an economic perspective, this Friday, 15th May 2026. The livestream kicks off at 8am UK, 9am EU, 11am UAE, 12.30pm IN, 2pm TH, 3pm SG, 5pm AEST. Streaming across various locations, and no doubt about it, we’d love your support. The Sh*t Show is a Livestream happening every Friday, where Andrea T Edwards, Dr. David Ko, Richard Busellato and Joe Augustin, as well as special guests, discuss the world’s most pressing issues across all angles of the polycrisis, working to make sense of the extremely challenging and complex times we are all going through, plus what we can do about it. Help us move the needle so we can change the name of the show to something more genteel when (or if) it is no longer a sh*t show. #TheShitShow #UncommonCourage You can find me Andrea T Edwards | The Digital Conversationalist and Welcome - Uncommon Courage - An Invitation. My book Uncommon Courage, an invitation, is here https://mybook.to/UncommonCourage My book 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile, is here https://mybook.to/18stepstoanallstar