Good day, fellow investors! In this video, I will summarize my economic research over the past four or five years and put it into an investing perspective. There is so much noise when it comes to investing the economy. Will there be a recession? What kind of a recession? Will it be the big crisis, the economic collapse, financial collapse, currency collapse that will destroy your portfolio or it will just be a 1991 mild recession and then the world will continue roaring onwards. I'll try to put the most important economic perspectives, facts, into a comprehensive overview of what's going on and what can impact your investing and your portfolio. Let's start immediately with the content. So we're going to discuss Ray Dalio's view. Dalolio is his right Italian name, he shortened it. Ray Dalio's view and Paul Tudor Jones, how they say the economic system is broken. There is no more effectiveness in monetary policies. There is a wealth gap. Put that into a global perspective, into an investing perspective and also show what's going on around the world, not just from a western, biased economic perspective. Let's start. In a recent interview at the Greenwich Economic Forum, Ray Dalio and Paul Tudor Jones, two of the best investors over the last 40 years, have discussed how the capital system is broken, how the world has gone mad because of valuations and how we are in for an ugly awakening, let's say. But they have been saying that for a while now. Ray Dalio has been announcing a recession for almost half a decade now. It isn't happening. So that's something we have to put into perspective. When investing, it comes to, okay, what are the risks? And how can they materialize? And if they materialize, what actually happens? Ray Dalio and he discussed that in his LinkedIn article, the world has gone mad and the system is broken, emphasizes three major problems for the economy. The wealth gap because all this money printing made the rich richer and the poor stayed poorer. So he forecasts that the poor will start complaining that there will be riots, populism, increasing populism that will lead to a 1930s situation that nationalism later led to the world, second world war. I will give my counter arguments later. The second issue is the inefficiency of global monetary policy. There is so much that you can't increase in interest rates to cool the economy. You can't lower them anymore to stimulate the economy. Even money printing doesn't have an effect anymore on the economy. So the only option is the third option, which is monetary policy free or modern monetary policy to simply put money into hands of people and governments, print money, put money to stimulate further the economy, which will probably lead to currency collapse. And the third point he is saying that China is rising as a dominant global power. And in history, always when such things happened, there have been strong clashes between the rising power and the established power, China and the US. And that will lead over the coming decades to trade wars. We're already seeing geopolitical wars. We already see the skirmishes in Hong Kong and what Western countries have to say about what's going on in Hong Kong, technology world and capital wars. So that's the environment. I would have a few counter arguments on Dalio's view. First, yes, there is a wealth gap between the poor and the wealth and that wealth gap is increasing. So of course, we might see some taxes, which are very important for Ray Dalio's clients and all those investing. If taxes are increased, your investment returns will be lower on average. But that also depends where you are investing, what you are investing for the Dalio. It's very, very important. Then thirdly, the poor, are they really, really that poor? Or I come, I was born in a communist country and I went out from poverty to pretty well off very, very fastly. All I needed is hard work, speaking English, willingness to learn. So everybody that is poor, it's not like in the 1930s, if you were working on a dock, there was no way out. Now, there is a fast way out. And even if you are poor, you have probably a mobile phone, you have a house, you have a car. So you are pretty good in the Western world. You are not poor in India. And that's also something that we have to, we cannot really compare to the 1940s and the consequences that had happened in the 1930s. On monetary policy printing, I completely agree, currencies have been and will continue to be sacrificed for repayment of debt for the service of debt debt. So if you have debt, you are okay.  On China, I think that Asia is really strong and we'll see some data later about what's going on in Asia and how can that impact our investments and everything. And the world isn't already and the key is that to understand is that the world is already so connected. I can now hire someone in India to do some work for me. We are buying so many things in Asia. Apple, Tesla are now selling cars and phones in Asia. There is more than 4,000 Starbucks stores in China already. So the world is already so connected. Yes, there will be skirmishes. There will be some bullying between those but at the end, even over the last year and a half, China and the US have been growing together. The world has been growing together and that's something thanks to information, thanks to communication that we didn't have in the 1930s that makes this environment different. However, there is always the uncharted territory of how monetary policy free will look like. What will be the impact on investments on returns will be positive nominal returns, negative real returns. That also depends on what you are buying. Ray Dalio is looking from a macro perspective. He's managing 160 billions but we as investors and individual investors, we have to look at the micro perspective and analyze each investment opportunity individually. So let's start with the global economy. The environment is full of debt and according to Dalio, in common sense already, we are at what should historically be explained as the end of the long-term debt cycle. The economy grows in relation to productivity growth. The more we can produce as a country, as a nation, the better is GDP growth over time. However, you can spur that growth by taking debt. There are short-term debt cycles and then there is the long-term debt cycle. You see the big line, the big curve here on the chart. And we are now somewhere at the end of the long-term debt cycle and according to Ray Dalio, this will be a big issue in the future because as we know it's inevitable for the debt to start hunting you back at some point in time because you are sacrificing future consumption to consume now. That is the nature of debt and it's naturally that it works in cycles and comes back at some point in time through interest and financing. Plus it's already happening in the United States. The country has to borrow more just to pay interest on the previously consumed debt. So the debt is not used to build schools, improve medical care, infrastructure or something that's adding value, know that debt is used to finance interest. Let me give you a short overview of the global debt environment that will also show the unsustainability of large public debts and deficits and later we'll discuss how those can be solved. So the elephant in the room is debt. Both public and private has skyrocketed globally over the last decades in the U.S. public debt that does not include future but certain and growing liabilities for healthcare and social securities. You should add 25 billion when we calculate that discounted value to the present day to the current already debt of 22 billion for the United States, the public debt and that is showing how that has increased 22 times since 1982. The S&P 500 has increased 32 times, 30 times since then. So there might be some correlation and the fact is that the slow growth of productivity, population growth, slowing population growth and increased global competition leads to a situation where to enable growth governments, corporations and people have to reach into debt, more and more debt to sustain the economic growth that developed countries have been enjoying for the last half a century and more. No government wants to beat the bad government and put this to stop. So they keep printing money and lowering interest rates to create a financially stimulating environment. This is called pushing on a string. At some point in time you can't lower interest rates anymore and you can't borrow anymore to finance the interest you're paying on the debt. The best example of how unsustainable this method is can be shown by looking at how 50% of the US budget deficits is used to pay interest on previously issued debt. A scheme where one has to borrow to pay interest on previously issued debt is often called the Ponzi scheme, but for now there is still trust in the environment. When there is trust in the environment then you can refinance all those loans at lower interest rates and also the dollar is a safe haven so compared to other opportunities globally in this uncertain environment it is still very very strong and the United States and other countries that have reserve currencies despite the debt that those can borrow at very very low cost especially as they have the printing printing press working for them. So it's a very interesting unusual situation that the world has never been really into and that's something we have to keep in mind when it comes also to investing and the deficits are projected to continue to be one trillion dollars and more over the next 10-20 years and as long as there is sufficient trust in the US dollar in the American economy it will be okay to finance debt albeit the net interest costs are already biting back. The key to understand is why there is no debt panic we see these huge piles of debt and then no panic so we have to understand okay will that turn into a crisis that was a liquidity crisis in 2008-2009 will it turn into a crisis like that or the hands-on approach that monetary policy and fiscal policy have now will smoothen the ride and perhaps even ease the way out by sacrificing currency. Let's see well if we look at that in Japan it has been skyrocketing since the 1990s and things there okay there is no economic growth but the well-being of people is continuing is okay the Bank of Japan owns 77.5 percent of all the ETFs in the country and it's on track to become the largest shareholder of publicly traded stocks in Japan owning 4.7 percent of the total market so in Japan if Japan is doing it why wouldn't we continue to do it the second reason is that all this money printed creates a lot of competition a lot of competition lowers prices and we see no inflation for example over the past 10-15 years since fracking oil has become hot especially in the United States the aggregate return to shareholders investing money there has been negative so aggregate investors didn't make money from the U.S. shale oil revolution but there has been so much supply of oil that has pushed oil prices from 100 to 60 where we are now and that impacted inflation so the money printing the new technologies really impacts also prices how they are measured so that's the second reason why okay there is no inflation we can print money so there is nothing to worry about and most developed countries have interest rates below 1% thus the 1.5 2% in the United States is still very very attractive and keeps the dollar very strong compared to other currencies like the euro for example the fourth reason why few are panicking is of psychological nature great alio has been warning about the debt cycle for half a decade now but nothing has really happened when something doesn't happen people tend to disregard it as a possibility as a risk it's like the fact that insurance sales spike just after a hurricane has struck people need to see risk to embrace it the last time long-term debt cycle was risky was in the 1930s the 1930s is something that probably nobody watching this remembers so when will all this really matter when will the chickens come to roost well as the dalio says in the next recession and when will the next recession come again nobody knows but let's see so the next recession everybody is expecting the next recession since 2010 from what i'm hearing and following the investment news but as soon as there is weakness dcb pushed another 20 billion per month for as long as it takes for the eurozone's inflation and growth outlooks to return to satisfactory levels the Fed as soon as it increased interest rates ban soon down down because we are slowing down growth so there is an immediate action from monetary and fiscal policy to prevent any kind of recession lower taxes more investments high fiscal deficits so that's something that we cannot know for how long can all this financial engineering today postpone recessions and then also we don't know the magnitude of a recession if there is a recession and there is so much money plowed into infrastructure into growth into perhaps even helicopter money through monetary policy free we might not see such a bad recession as ray delio is expecting they can print money there will be issues crisis around the world with those that have debt in foreign currencies for example but the united states china europe they can always print themselves out of their problems perhaps we will see it's uncharted territory a key to understand is there will be high investments in infrastructure and the new ecb president lagarde says that governments should have larger deficits to invest in infrastructure we tell us which tells us okay we have to invest in infrastructure related investments because there will be a lot of money coming in to build all those new bridges trains and whatever and then you have to find the best low risk high return investment vehicle to do that which gives you margin of safety now the next recession and the impact of it the last two recessions were very very bad for the stock market down almost 50% in both cases it didn't last long but that is what investors expect however we might see financial engineering and currency sacrificing that might not lead stocks to fall maybe we'll we'll see five years of zero returns but it's possibly that financial institutions like we see with the bank of japan buying five percent of the japanese market to do whatever it takes to protect it to to spore people to spend more money we might not see the 50% downturns we have seen after the dot-com bubble and the great recessions so the investing message is pretty simple invest in businesses that will do okay if there is a recession but will do great if there isn't a recession so again low risk high reward investing is the key what you have to think about if you're investing in businesses that have shady fundamentals that will go bust if there is a recession liquidity crunch too much debt then you are gambling and that's not really investing that's not really sustainable over the long term for most investors the long term solution to this debt cycle is simply to print money let inflation run a little bit higher print print print and of course those that have buying been buying bonds will be the suckers but that has been something going on since ever governments always debase their currencies and there are always their currencies always lose their value so it's better to be invested in real assets if we just look at inflation they say inflation is low but then it depends on how you're measuring it if you measure inflation as it was measured in the 1990s it's around it has been constantly around five percent not two percent and then if you look at the things you really need in life education Harvard education tuition went from 40 000 to the current 65 000 in 15 years that's more than a year if you wanted to buy a home in Amsterdam or New York it was 120 years ago now it's 500 that's more than two percent a year if you need a new hip it costs five times more than 20 years ago so those are the things that really matter and then your pension if you need to buy stocks now it costs 30 times more than in the 1980s and you retire on your yield on your income so now to retire costs 30 times more than it did 30 years ago so that's something you have to put into perspective there is huge inflation depending where you look aggregate statistical numbers don't tell you much what is my real focus and what I see as the predominant economic force over the next decade few decades is Asia and I really want to give you some facts about it that will put a completely different perspective on what's going on in the world if we look at real GDP growth in Europe in the United States is really really slow zero one percent two percent so not really a positive situation but if we expand and give it a global outlook global perspective we see a big chunk of the world Asia growing between three and ten percent that's 4.5 billion people while the developed countries have 1.3 billion people that's huge and I think really that the western media outlets bias our perspective on how the world really is developing what is really going on in the world 4.5 billion people growing at let's say five percent per year that's something huge that's something that has never been seen in the world India has just started to grow and that's really what has to be the main economic topic ever not a recession not crisis that's all local news you have to put things into global perspective plus the 4.5 billion people are mostly young the population pyramid is very very healthy so there is so much positivity there so much tailwinds that we cannot even imagine there is something that makes comparing things to the 1930s like Dalio is doing practically worthless in the 1930s the new deal saved America okay today we have the chinese one belt one road initiative working and developing the world trade wars or no trade wars this thing is moving forward the purpose of the one belt and one road idea is to construct a unified large market and make full use of both international and domestic markets through cultural exchange and integration to enhance mutual understanding and trust of member nations ending up in an innovative pattern with capital inflows talent pool and technology database the number of countries that have signed documents related to the initiative is staggering this is 5 billion people or and more growing fast that outweighs the issues that might be happening in the developed world over the next 10 20 years then there is so much that still has to happen that can easily outweigh the bad again just an example is urban urbanization 250 million people will move to cities over the next 10 years wish or whatever happens in the economy so 250 million more infrastructure more roads more buildings more growth more consumption and the fact is the world is so much more connected today than it was in the 1930s that really this connectivity i think is a safety net for long-term human well-being and if there is well-being i think we as investors can do really really well so what are the main points that we should take from this as investors currencies will be sacrificed that's a given that has been always the case in the history of humankind so we have to invest in assets great assets great businesses that will do well no matter what happens that's the best answer that i can give to any kind of economic macroeconomic discussions and focus on the micro find those good gems that if you look you will find them so secondly the global economy will do well developing asia is such a strong power that it is incredible really really incredible if you go to asia you will see how that works so what will i do i will park my money where it has strong tailwinds to grow where it has protection margin of safety normal value investing that works well all the time and then there is something i would close this that will really shift your perspective the world in 10 15 years will be completely different than it is now and we cannot even imagine how it will look like if somebody would have told anybody 12 years ago that we will have 10 years of zero or negative interest rates they would say oh this guy is crazy if somebody would have told the main economists 30 35 years that the dominant economic power will be china in the 1980s china was a pure communist country just exiting huge starvation famine in the 70s and the 60s and now they are the dominant power so see how things evolve change extremely fast 40 years ago we had no emails now we can do business all over the world sitting at our desk at our computer and you are watching me from who knows where that's the new world it will be completely different in the next 10 15 years but there are the fundamentals of value investing that will always work and that's why we have this channel so please subscribe i'll keep really giving you videos that give great perspective on what's going on we'll go into asset classes we'll go into education fundamentals analysis all the most important facts when it comes to investing we'll put it into a free book later so you can also read this on my website i'll put the link in the description below with a published article if you prefer reading to watching thank you for watching looking forward to comments please like this if it gave you value share it and thank you and i'll see you in the next video


Where Governor Amino Massary says the declaration of a state of emergency on security cannot solve the myriad of challenges facing the country. Briefly journalist on Thursday after a meeting with the chief of staff to President Muhammad Buhari, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, at the state house in Abuja, Massary said the military is overstretched, while noting that the nation security situation is a national concern and goes beyond partisan politics. The governor said that the responsibility of securing the country does not rest solely on the set of individuals or security agencies.


Rwy'n dechrau eu panfell, a'i eu cyfnodau a'r eistedd i'r cyflwymon sydd wedi ardal y gallai dd cruising, a oedd yn gweithio i ddurigiaethol Cerddorfolk gan Myrre Fffy. Felly, udydd yn gweithio i ddurigiaethol Cerddorfolk gan gweithreffordd. Rwy'n dechrau i gweithreffordd, ac i gweithreffordd i ddurigiaethol Cerddorfolk yn gweithreffordd. Mae'n cyffredin ni'n ddurigiaethol Cerddorfolk yn gweithreffordd. oes i ddechrau'r ddaeth o ddechrau'r ddechrau'r ddaeth o cyfnodau cyfnodau strategiol ac oes i ddweud. Mary Fee. As a cabinet secretary is aware, last week the Justice Sub-Committion on Policing published its report on the governance of the SPA. That report says that the committee does not have confidence that the current chair is the best person to lead the board. That follows similar concerns from the Public Audit Committee. We know that under the current Felly, mae'r lleiddiad iddo agor ddinsigol, y cyfleidiau krytidol, y lliwyr brydiau dipwyddio, a dweithio rhai o'r cyfleidiau ddefnyddio i'r treiddiad brydiau yn Moall.  Isau gweithio yn gwybodaeth, ac yn ei ddynnu i gllawh y sydd i'r cyfleidiau a dda pech cyfleidiau ar yr ysgolfau that Mr Flanagan's position is untenable and that he should go? I am conscious of the issues that have been raised by the sub-committee on policing, which provided us with a copy of the report last Thursday. As I am sure that the member will recognise, we will give very careful consideration to that report and the findings of that report. Alongside the issues that have been highlighted by the Public Audit Committee, and to take those issues into account alongside the other evidence that our sub-committee received, and that the Public Audit Committee received in looking at those matters. Once we have considered all those matters, we will then be in a position where we can then, as is very clearly, respond to those matters and our position on the position of the chair of the SPA. However, I am sure that the member will recognise that it is important that ministers and the Government do consider those issues carefully. I can give the member an absolute assurance that we will consider the findings of our sub-committee's report carefully in arriving at the Scottish Government's position on that matter. Andrew Flanagan has lost the confidence of MSPs from all parties, including Government-backed benchers. It is clear that his position is untenable. It seems that Mr Flanagan and the Justice Secretary are the last two people to see that. We need a drastic overhaul of how the SPA is run, and that must start with the very top of the SPA board. We need leadership from the Scottish Police Authority, but we do not have that at the moment. If Andrew Flanagan is not going to do the right thing in resign, then we need leadership from the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government approved Andrew Flanagan's appointment as chair. If the Cabinet Secretary will not withdraw that now, I simply ask what will it take for the Government to take action? I have given an assurance that we will consider the findings of our sub-committee's report. Once we have had the opportunity to consider that in detail, we will then be able to respond to those matters, alongside that considering the issues that have been raised by the Public Audit Committee. I am sure that the member would recognise that it is important that ministers give further consideration to those issues in coming to determination on those matters. On the wider issue around the SPA structure and the way in which it operates, the member will be aware that I have asked HMICS to bring forward the particular aspect of its inspection, its statutory inspection, which was due to take place later this year, to look at the issue of governance. HMICS has already agreed to do that specifically and intend to publish a report by 22 June on those issues. A point that was highlighted by the Public Audit Committee and, in a letter to me, welcomed the decision that I made in asking for this work to be undertaken. It is important that we consider those issues and reassure them that we are considering those issues very carefully and that we want to make sure that they are being appropriately addressed. On the wider issue around SPA governance and the SPA structure aspect, there is no doubt that there are aspects of the way in which the SPA has operated over the past four years that have not worked as well as it should have. There are areas in which I believe that it could make further improvements. I have been very clear about the need for the SPA to ensure that it operates in an open and transparent manner. I have repeatedly made that clear as a priority in the way in which it undertakes its processes in considering matters. There is no doubt that there have been improvements in the way in which the SPA has been operating. For example, as was led by the evidence given to the Public Audit Committee, the way in which it is considered such as C3, the way in which we now have the relationship between the SPA and the executive team within Police Scotland has improved significantly as well. The way in which it is taking forward the work around developing the 2026 strategy has shown clear improvements that have been made. I recognise the concerns that have been raised by our own sub-committee and members of the Public Audit Committee. I can give the member an assurance that he will be considered very carefully and at the Government's income tip position once it is considered all of these matters. Douglas Ross Cabinet Secretary, the evidence is very clear from the Justice Sub-Committee to the Public Audit Committee, from MSPs of all parties and indeed from former board members. Andrew Flanagan's time as chair of the Scottish Police Authority should be over and is certainly untenable to continue. Yes or no, does the Scottish Government continue to have full faith in Andrew Flanagan as chair of the Scottish Police Authority? As I have just said to the member, we will consider the findings of both the committee's work in this particular area and then come to decision on this issue. I am surprised at a member who, as a partner of the spokesperson on justice, would not want to ensure that we go through a due process in considering those issues. It is important that the Government ministers give careful consideration to those issues in coming to a decision. That is exactly what we will do. Once we have completed that process, we will then set out a position in this matter. John Finnie Cabinet Secretary, it is certainly my personal view that Mr Flanagan's position is untenable and he must go. I am sure that you will agree with me that we must have vibrant and diverse public boards. Can you indicate whether, in your response to both the committee reports, you will consider the impact that his conduct has had on the likelihood of being able to recruit women and ethnic minority people to those boards? The member might raise an important issue, because the Government is very clear about the need to make sure that we have greater diversity on our public bodies. I recently made some further appointments to the SPA, and I have already ridden to the chair of the SPA in recent weeks, highlighting the need to get greater diversity on the board, which is extremely important. That is why it is also extremely important that, when ministers consider those types of issues, we do have a due process that we go through in considering those types of concerns when they are being raised so that we do not dissuade people from thinking about applying for appointments to public boards when those issues are being raised with ministers. I can give the member an absolute assurance. I am very clear, not just with the SPA but with any boards within the justice setting, that they need to make sure that they are doing everything possible in order to increase diversity within their membership and that they should be looking to take forward proactive measures that can assist in achieving that. For example, it is not always necessary to go for direct appointments if there is no space to actually make direct appointments, but what you can do is to support the work of public bodies that can help to encourage greater diversity, giving people the experience of the work that that particular board might be undertaking with a view to applying for a place on the board at some point in the future. As a Government, we are very clear about the need to get greater diversity in looking at legislation in order to help to facilitate that. I am very clear, as justice secretary, that in all boards within the justice sector we need to see greater diversity. Recent track records on appointments to boards will demonstrate that we are making significant progress in increasing the number of women in particular on our justice boards, and I am determined to make sure that we continue to drive that forward. Liam McArthur The cabinet secretary will have heard the statement from Andrew Flanagan at the Justice Sub-Committee last week. There is no doubting that it was extremely contrite. He did offer an apology, but I think that the point that was being made by a number of members was that the position that he held was undermined and that the actual SPA itself would be inhibited in moving forward for as long as he remained chair. Given that, at the most recent SPA meeting last week, again concerns were being raised by board members about the publication in advance of papers, does he not believe that the culture shift that we all want to see in the SPA will not be possible until there is a change at the top? Liam McArthur The member will be aware that the SPA made a decision at its board meeting on 25 May to move its committees back to a presumption on the basis that it would take place in public and that papers would be published in advance. I have been very clear with the SPA about the need to make sure that they are open and transparent about the way in which they conduct their business. The member will recognise that it has been highlighted the need for private space in some of the SPA's work, given the sensitive nature and the confidential nature of some of the information that they are provided with, particularly where it relates to operational matters for Police Scotland and that a space needs to be provided for those discussions and for the sharing of that information to also be able to take place. My view is that the presumption in favour of sub-committees and board conduct taking place in a public forum is the right one and the approach that it should be taking. That is why I have also asked HMICS to bring forward the early part of its statutory inspection that was due to take place in the autumn of this year to look specifically at the issue of governance within the SPA. That work has already started by HMICS and I will report by 22 June. I have no doubt that it will help to support looking at what further measures the SPA needs to put in place. I recognise the need to make sure that the SPA is operating in an open and transparent manner. I have been very clear with it over an extended period of time to ensure that the processes and mechanisms that it has in place are able to deliver that effectively. We know that the chair of the Scottish Police Authority did not tell his board about a letter from Derek Penman advising of a forthcoming inspection. Now we understand that, on a previous occasion, Mr Flanagan did not share an advice note on forensic services with the board. Does the cabinet secretary believe that this is a further example of a lack of transparency and does the chair of any public body behaving in this way meet the Scottish Government's own guidance to those serving on public boards? As the member will be aware, Andrew Flanagan has accepted that he should have passed that note on to the other members of his board and accepts that there was an error made on his part, which is unacceptable. We need to ensure that chairs of any public body are passing on the relevant information to other members of the board in order to allow them to come to an informed position on matters when they are also being discussed. The issue around the advice note is one that also the chair has accepted that it should have passed on to board members. Again, it is a matter that we will consider in looking at the matter in the whole. I want to reassure members that the Government will come to a position on the matter, but it is appropriate that we consider all the facts and all the information that is being provided, in part for the very reason that was highlighted by John Finnie about individuals being attracted to stand and to work on our public bodies to ensure that there is a due process that ministers and Government will go through in considering those matters and then coming to a decision. A failure to do so, my concern would be that it would dissuade people from being prepared to go into public appointments and we want to avoid that from happening. That is why we will consider those matters very carefully and in a detailed way and we will then come to a decision on this issue. 2. Margaret Mitchell Tass, the Scottish Government, in light of the disruption over the bank holiday weekend, arising from the M8, M73 and M74 improvement projects, will it confirm the completion date of the work and provide details on how Transport Scotland plans to reduce the level of disruption? Following on from the opening of the new M8 motorway in April and the M74 Wraith underpass in February, the final sections of the new and improved M8, M73 and M74 motorways will open fully across the M8, M73 and M74 project over the coming days. More traffic management is being removed across the project each day, with the motorways expected to be fully open by the end of this week. As is usual for projects of this nature, the contractor will now focus on necessary finishing and snagging works and local and road improvements that have been held back until the new roads were available. Those works will continue until at least September, but will not affect peak-time traffic flows. Margaret Mitchell I thank the cabinet secretary for that response, and I would be very surprised if, by the end of this week, we could properly describe the roadworks that have been completed. What I can say is that, in the meantime, there are still major problems with the lack of or inadequate signage, which is an issue that I raised with the minister for transport in February. His response was that he would look into the issue, and since then, nothing has been done, in particular to indicate which lane to take for the new east cobride underpass layout. In addition to that, the delays that commuters are experiencing have been exacerbated by new road configurations and totally inadequate signage for diversions. As a result, countless numbers of drivers have found themselves completely lost with all the chaos that ensues. Furthermore, the delays in chaos are being added to by a lack of co-ordination of the works carried out by Transport Scotland and those by the local authority. Will the cabinet secretary now categorically commit to looking at the vexing issues, with a view to finding an effective solution? Cabinet secretary, I have responded to every letter that has been sent to me by the member. If there is one that has been missed out, I am happy to look at that, but if there are a number that she knows of representations from both her and other members, I have sought to respond to all of those, and, as I said, I will look to any outstanding ones to make sure that that happens. I did not say that the roads that have been completed by the end of next week—that is not what I said. I said that the major roads will be opened fully. As I went on to say, the snagging works that are necessary for finishing the local road improvements will continue until at least September, but they will not affect peak-time traffic flows. It is also true to say that, in a project such as this, and I will let you remind ourselves, half a billion pounds of work, I promise that, in relation to the rates that were exchanged by the Tories more than 30 years ago, it has taken this Government to do that. For the first time, there has been a motorway between Edinburgh and Glasgow, the whole way, it has taken this Government to do that, both of those that have been opened ahead of schedule. However, at this stage in the project, this is when roads have to be tied in, and it can cause disruption. For which I apologise, we do not want to see disruption happening. The contractors have tried very hard to do over the quieter period of the bank holiday overnight, when they have done that. However, in relation to the final point, if there are any further issues in terms of signage, any issues to which I have not responded to the member are more than happy to look at that. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. However, the impact of the improvement project does not stop with mere delays in potential chaos. It is also having a seriously worrying adverse effect on businesses in the Lanarkshire area. For example, a number of businesses involved in Addingston have contacted me about a substantial loss of revenue, as a result of which a number of those businesses are closing or planning to close due to lack of football and cancellations. Some businesses are reporting a staggering 80 per cent drop in turnover. Businesses in the Birkenshaws trading estate in Addingston report having lost tens of thousands of pounds of turnover over the past few weeks, as a result of the M8 no longer offering a turn-off to Addingston. Similar problems have been reported elsewhere in Motherwall Hamilton and surrounding districts. In view of that, will the minister undertake to join with me in meeting with those businesses to hear first-hand their concerns and to find a solution to mitigate the adverse impact that the project is having on their businesses and the local economy? As I have said previously, I am more than happy to hear representations from the member if there is a letter that has not been answered. The issues that she has just raised, she has also raised with me and I have responded to them previously. If she has new issues, perhaps she could let me know and I am more than happy to look at those issues. However, what I think is remarkable and, of course, I do not deny for a second that there has been disruption. It is not possible to have, especially in the online sections of those roads, long-awaited improvements without disruption to traffic. It is simply not possible to do that. However, I think that it is remarkable that there is not one word of congratulation from Margaret Mitchell and the Conservatives over a fantastic infrastructure project that will bring major benefits to the central Scotland motorway network. I do not deny that there has been disruption, of course there has. There will always be in relation to those projects, but that is a tremendous project that should have been done decades ago. Once again, it has fallen to this Government to bring forward improvements. The M8 being a motorway the whole way between Edinburgh and Glasgow, you would think that Main Street Scotland would have had a motorway before and now it has not happened. The Wraith interchange, which I have had many representations of people saying that it has dramatically reduced their journey times, is not one word of that from the Conservatives. Of course, I will look at the issues that Margaret Mitchell has raised, but perhaps just once the Tory's could commend this Government and the contractors for the work done in bringing forward this fantastic project. Richard Lyle Can I say to the cabinet secretary that both those roads are in my constituency? I was on the M8 and M74 on Friday and travelled to Glasgow airport. Would the cabinet secretary agree with me that this £500 million contract, as I would suggest coming near to an end, with mainly landscape work to be done, can he personally communicate my thanks to SRP and to Transport Scotland for dealing with my constituency's needs timelessly and most of the emails that have likely been sent to Margaret Mitchell have also came to me and I have forwarded them on to him. I personally thank you for the work that you have done and also for the ffensing that you have put up at St John the Baptist School, which was long overdue and was not going to be done, but because of your work and the minister's work, it is now going to be done. I am not sure that there is a question in there, minister, but if you wish to briefly reply. It is an important point that Richard Lyle has raised many of the same issues that Margaret Mitchell has raised and I have sought to respond to him as well. In relation to the M74, of course, that does not include the extension to the M74. Under a long-delayed project, which has brought major benefits to the west of Scotland right the way through to the airport, I am glad that Richard Lyle could at least acknowledge that there have been problems, but there is a major benefit from those infrastructure projects. I would like to associate my remarks with Dick Lyle. As the cabinet secretary knows, I am full of praise for the project. I think that it is a wonderful project and it should be praised and for all the work that has been done. I know that it is the biggest project in Europe, but I would like to ensure that the cabinet secretary is aware that most people who use these roads believe that there is just a lack of information. That is the only weakness, and I think that it is only yesterday that someone wrote to me and said that they were queuing up for hours at midnight on the 88. I just wanted to make sure that the cabinet secretary was aware of that. I think that the weakness is in the lack of information and diversion. If it was not for that, I think that people would feel a little happy, but I do not want to detract them anyway from the project that I think is to be commended. I thank Pauline McNeill for her remarks. I also say that it is not actually the largest project. Even in Scotland, the AWPR is £750 million, but it is long-awaited. I acknowledge the point that Pauline McNeill makes about the disruption that has been caused. The very fact that the example that she gave happened at night is that she seeks to close the roads at times when there is least traffic on them. I acknowledge that there has also been issues with signage and communication, which I have raised a number of times with the contractor. We are coming to the very final part of that, which is when a lot of very quick changes have to be made in order to tie in the roads. I will pass on again the remarks of Margaret Mitchell and Pauline McNeill to the contractor for the last final few days.


And that's the breakfast and plus TV Africa. Just before we joined the newsroom at 9 o'clock for the news brief, Monday Thomas joins us this morning to talk sports. And Monday, it's good to have you join us. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you so much for having me, Marcee. It's been some time and you're looking as pretty as ever. Thank you for having me. Thank you as well. But quickly let's delve straight to the conversation. The Super Falcons dropped five places to become the fourth yet in the world and 16 Africa and the latest FIFA ranking. We're really behind countries like Russia who's never competed in a game. I mean, how does that really make you feel when we have super stars like Iwobe, Alex, okay, Alex and Iwobe, same thing. And then we're friend Didi. You want to look at the caliber of players that we have, then we're just going, going and then we're just really behind a country as Russia. Who hasn't really participated in sports? You know, what exactly is going on with the Super Eagles? And how does that make you feel? Well, as a Petrotic Nigerian, I'm really sad. But as someone who understands football, I expected this because when we are being coached with a manager who hasn't achieved a lot in football, I mean, every manager needs a chance to achieve whatever they need to. But of course, the Super Eagles is a big job. And when you're taking on a big job, the expectations are very high. The standards are very high. And I must say coached just a Pestiro, it doesn't match the standards of the Super Eagles, but he certainly matches the standards of the NFF because the NFF have brought themselves so low to be taking managers who haven't achieved a lot in world football. I know he's got good pedigrees when it comes to training. It was once upon a time in Real Madrid, he has been the coach of Ben Estrella. He spent some time in Portugal. But what has he really achieved? Has he been able to assemble stars? The Super Eagles are a squad full of great players, but quite a shame that we don't have a manager who's got that great ability to assemble the best players. Victor Semen, you mentioned him banging in goals in the Italian CRR. But when it comes to the Super Eagles, he's not getting those supplies. And the other thing is the Nigerian players are not as good as we think they are. How many of them get to start games for here at this particular time? Real friends did he play the first game against Guinea-Bissau, where he was a mess in that midfield. He couldn't make it in the second game. And Nigeria also, what do you expect them to win? They get to these two points. I'm pretty sure you're familiar with that already, Mercy. What do you expect them to struggle? That's where they're surprised. But that shouldn't be so. We announced six on the log, four tickets in the world, six in Africa, and four tickets in the world. No one is going to respect us. And that's quite a shame for us. So you're saying that the reason for all of this is because of the sort of management and coach that we have? That's what it is. That's what it is. We don't go far better than that than all the kind of players we have. We don't have that quality of players that we think we do. So basically that's what it is. Okay, so let's also look at the next thing now. And it's also the Super Falcons who will commence walk-up preparation with Mexico. And then of course, if you also look at the group stage or category, we're looking up, we're going to be up against the likes of Canada. We're going to be up against the likes of New Zealand and Australia. This team, it's not a joke, really not a joke, even if it's the female version of it. If you also look at the male version, it's also not a joke as well.  We've not made it in the past locations, though. I don't see us making it. I mean, because I don't see it doesn't mean it can't happen. Why do I feel like you're just being very pessimistic this morning? I just have to be brutally honest, Mersi. As far as she has the last eight games, the Super Falcons have been involved in just one week. And the same problem we are having with the coach and the Super Eagles is what we're having at the Super Falcons. Coach Randy Raulstrom, quite a shame, but he shouldn't be coaching the most successful African team as far as women's football is concerned. And heading to a world cup, we are going to take on the likes of Haiti in Antalya and as well as New Zealand. And when we get to the world cup, we take on the host nation, I think Australia, and as well as great female footballing nation as Canada. I mean, I used to expect a lot from the Super Falcons, but I would urge people listening to me right now that they should temper their expectations. I mean, it's a world cup. We've not had a good record at the world cup. I think the best record we had at the World Cup was the quarterfinal finish in 2003. I was very young, but I can still remember that game. Please see the Brazilian. I don't know how old she is now. Maybe she's the grand mother. She's got a free kick. So when I drew a lose, I gave my four goals to Prey. Shout out to the likes of Mercy at TDA. They were the one pulling down the Super Falcons at that time. But at this time, we have the likes of Aziz Alishola, Rajid Aziz, but they would be having a great time in Spain, but they certainly don't have a great time when they play for the Super Eagles of Nigeria. But let's begin to talk about the solution. Do you think this is a way forward? Is there any remedy before all of this, before the Super Falcons actually face the game? Do you think there's also a remedy for the Super Eagles as well, before the next ranking? I mean, football, as they say, is good at the preparation. If they should get their preparations right, and it shows that these players are guaranteed to be an incentive, want to see some level of motivation because they expect someone to leave their club style from Spain. It's a world cup. I know other club football will be on break, but these players need to know that they are playing for the national team. They are playing for Prey. But at the end of the day, they will have food to eat when they get back home. They will have some fancy stuff to buy with the money. They will be promised. And these are the things we get to Slacken. So I'll call on the management to do the right things because if we do the right things, the form will just follow function and everything will form properly. And then we'll have a great world cup. And also the preparations. Get a win against 80 today makes around about 3 p.m. And when you take on New Zealand, you continue winning weight. Because football is a game of momentum. When once you lose one game, you can lose the other. You can keep on winning. But once you win, there are chances that you can continue winning because you've somehow built your motivation, your confidence into the next game. So the management talk about the NFFs to act right and make sure the girls are well motivated. The coach should employ some great tactics. Ashish Sureshawna, Rajid Shiva Dev, we've got Uchan Nakandu, that people who are playing regularly for their club. They will be playing regularly for their club. They were not good players. But what happens when they come to the Super Bowl that has to be on the tactics employed. So the right tactics, the management should act right and the players should be want to be and then we'll have a great World Cup. I remember those times where it was quite exciting to be called Messi because you had the likes of Messi Akide always playing. And then you probably say, hey, you know, that's awesome. Well, that's a size of it. Thank you so much. Monday, we have to go. Since I apologize, we don't have enough time to have for the conversation. But we'll always talk about this. We have to take a break to join the newsroom at nine o'clock. I wish you a very fantastic Friday and good one of that. Happy Good Friday and happy holiday. Thank you, Messi, for having me. Happy Good Friday as well. Well, I want to say thank you to you for also being part of the show from seven o'clock up until this moment. It has been a fantastic ride for the week. We will return on Monday or things being equal. If you missed out on the part of the conversation, we ask that you join us via any other social media platforms. So just to catch up, we're also on YouTube at Plus TV Africa and Plus TV Africa lifestyle. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is at Plus TV Africa. My name is Messi, but we'll have a great morning.


Looking at our income tax formula, we're focused once again, line one income. Remembering that the income tax formula, the first half of it in essence is an income statement, although a strange one where we have income minus the equivalent of the expenses. Those being the deductions gets us to the equivalent of net income. This being the taxable income, everything's flipped on its head. We want the taxable income as low as possible as opposed to in normal circumstances, which we usually want as high as possible. That means with the income line we're focused on, we need to determine if something is classified as income and whether or not it's exempt income with regards to recording it for taxes. That's the general concept. Looking at the first page of the form 1040, we're focused down here, line number eight, other income from schedule one. If we look at schedule one, this is the additional income and adjustments to income. We're now down here on line number eight, where we have these other somewhat kind of random items and we're gonna go through some of these items. They're not quite as common, which is why they're kind of all grouped up into the other income down below, the net operating laws to gambling, the cancellation of debt and so on and so forth. So let's look at them lines by lines and list some of them out and then we'll take a look at some of them in the tax software. Tracking software. Lines eight A through eight Z are the other income lines. Now, remember the general rule from the tax code perspective is everything from the IRS perspective that you receive is kind of like income unless it's exempt from income, classified as not income. So you can get very creative and start saying, well, what if this happened? What if that happened? I got money because of this or that and the other thing. Well, those might fall into this line, which would be the other income type of situation. So caution, do not report on lines eight A through eight Z any income from self-employment or fees received as a notary public. Instead, you must do schedule C even if you don't have any business expenses. Also don't report on lines eight A through eight Z any non-employee compensation showing on form 1099 miscellaneous 1099 NEC 1099 K unless it isn't itself self-employment income such as income from a hobby or a sporadic activity. Now this is really important to understand why is that the case? Why would I need to be reporting something on a schedule C or why when I get a form 1099 miscellaneous or 1099 NEC or 1099 K is the IRS expecting to see in essence a schedule C and not something reported on this other income line because we have the self-employment tax that's gonna be coming into play here. So note that we're talking about income taxes as the primary focus when we look at the form 1040 but if you have W2 wages the W2 also reflects the social security and Medicare that was taken out and usually it's done already you don't have to really do anything extra if it's W2 wages because the IRS got the employer to handle that on the tax side. So it's just a reporting thing but if you're self-employed then the IRS is gonna say if you have self-employment income we wanna treat you as both the employee and employer therefore the 1040 is not only gonna be used to calculate your income tax but also the employee-employer portion equivalent that being the self-employment tax, social security and Medicare which can be quite significant. So that means that if you have some income that's classified as business income the IRS is gonna want a piece of it not just for income taxes but also for the social security and Medicare components of it. So then you can get into classifications should it be a hobby income or should it be self-employment? You can get into questions as to whether something is self-employment income. If you get a 1099 miscellaneous or something like that or an NEC or K then the IRS would generally assume you would think that it's gonna be self-employment income they would expect to see a schedule C unless you claim it's a hobby. So if it's in the reason the IRS will allow people to take a hobby is because obviously they don't want people to be able to take losses. So if you have schedule C income from a 1099 and you had more expenses than income then you can end up with a loss which is actually good for taxes because then you might be able to write that off against the W-2 wages which the IRS doesn't want to see. So they're gonna say if you had income then they're gonna try to hit you with self-employment tax as well as other income and if it's a hobby and that's why you got one of these 1099s then that's when the exception might apply. So just general rule to keep that in mind. Instead see the instructions for the recipient included on form 1099 miscellaneous, 1099 NEC, 1099 K. So you can always look at those forms for more instructions to find out where to report the income. So for more information about what is being reported on form 1099 K see instructions for payee included on that form and you can visit irs.gov forward slash gig word. The 1099 K in other words is kind of like a newer type of form where the IRS is trying to pressure in non-traditional kind of formats in every transaction usually you have a pay earn and a payee meaning you have someone generating income from the transaction and someone that is paying which would have an expense or deduction if they were a business for taxes but with this gig economy situation because the end user is really an individual the IRS has less leverage over them so they started to work on forcing not only the payer of a business situation but trying to get the intermediary platforms like the gig economy platforms or the credit card companies and pay pals of the world and whatnot and try to pressure them to issue these 1099 K forms. Okay.


This isn't the video that I was supposed to release this week This week I was supposed to release the next episode of my dark side of the moon project But right now there are more important things going on as I speak black people across the United States and the world are Rising up in protest of police brutality and systemic racism I'm making this video as a show of solidarity for all those who are putting their lives on the line in the ongoing fight For basic human rights, and if you enjoy the content on my channel, you should be standing in solidarity as well Because nearly all of the music that I talk about Exists due to the strength and defiance of black communities From jazz to pop from hip-hop to rock the popular music of our era has been trailblazed by black artists Always standing in direct opposition to a racist society When I look at my most popular videos I see that not a single one of them would exist without the struggle and creativity of black communities That struggle created the blues it created jazz it created funk it created soul and it created the main genre That I have made a living on rock and roll Not only has black culture made the music world what it is much of that world has been shaped by musicians specifically and publicly protesting systemic racism and police brutality Whether it's black musicians like Nina Simone Stevie Wonder or Kendrick Lamar or white allies like Bob Dylan and Kurt Cobain Popular music has a proud history of standing against injustice Right now I'm working on a video that deals with this in more depth But for the time being I wanted to take a moment to reiterate and celebrate the brilliance of black musical innovation. I owe my livelihood I owe my greatest passion and I owe much of the very fabric of my being To the creations of black trailblazers and those who followed in their path People of color have spent generations going through struggle that I can't even begin to understand and yet They have persevered and created some of the most incredible art that humanity will ever make and Even without accounting for the legacy of black music I would still want to stand in support of those fighting for justice Because nobody deserves to live in constant fear of the systems meant to protect them Nobody deserves to spend the last moments of their life being choked out by a police officer as they say I can't breathe This has to change and it has to change now If you oppose this movement you should think very carefully the next time you put on a lead Zeppelin record Break out the red hot chili peppers or bump M&M in your car And you should think very carefully about watching my videos If you do support the movement and want to help the cause there's a lot of ways you can do that One of the easiest ways right now is to donate to the National Bail Fund network Which will help activists who are being wrongfully jailed if you want some more options for donation check out black lives matters dot Car.co. It's got a ton of resources for protesters. It's got lists of charities It's got ways to get involved on the ground It's a fantastic site and since I'm a Canadian. I don't want to pretend that this is just an issue in America Systemic racism against people of color permeates my own culture as well In addition Canada is a country built on generations of injustice Against indigenous communities if you want to help show solidarity for indigenous communities You can check out the Chani Wenjack fund which is fighting to create a lasting Reconciliation in Canada if you can't afford to donate, but you still want to help the cause that's okay, too Zoe Amira has created a video feed that you can watch with all of the AdSense revenue going to the cause Furthermore that video also contains a wealth of black artists and musicians to discover And that brings me to my last point make sure you use any platform You have to amplify black and indigenous voices in the community that can mean shouting out art made by black and indigenous Artists it can mean sharing historical stories that you think are important It can mean amplifying the voices of activists Whatever it is the main goal is to make the struggle more visible in mainstream culture Time and time again as evidenced by jazz rock and hip-hop black voices are silenced in the broader Conversation until their art and message is made more palatable by white artists This is unacceptable and this is not a tradition that we should be carrying on in that spirit I'm gonna end this video on a few recommendations of black musicians that I think are doing incredible work right now Algiers fronted by Franklin James Fisher are an incredible band Who really defy a lot of the conventions of genre they make intensely thoughtful and Directed political music that jumps between industrial gospel jazz and more Sampa the great is a Zambian rapper who makes music with fantastic groove and beautiful sonic palettes And then Shabaka and the ancestors are a project created by King Shabaka of the comet is coming They do really incredible jazz music that pulls from African influence as well as the wild Afrofuturism of artists like Sun Ra and once more I've included a link to the video where you can donate without paying any money So please watch please amplify and if you're going out there to protest, please be safe black lives matter