Karen Newton, Business and Wealth Strategy - Deciphering The Economy

  At first glance, tariffs, wars and extreme weather appear to be completely unrelated events. One is political. One is geopolitical. One is environmental. Yet when you step back and look beyond the headlines, they all expose the same weakness — over-reliance on fragile global systems . In recent years, global supply chains have been stretched, tested, and in many cases broken. What once looked efficient has revealed itself to be brittle. And every time disruption hits — whether through trade restrictions, conflict, or natural disaster — the same question resurfaces: How resilient is a country when external systems fail? The answer increasingly points to one place: the strength of its domestic economy . The Illusion of Global Stability For decades, globalisation promised lower costs, faster production, and seamless trade. Businesses optimised for efficiency, not resilience. Governments assumed systems would always work because they always had. But efficiency removes slack from ...

 Most people don’t fail to change because they lack effort. They fail because they never stop to decide what they’re actually building toward. It’s easy to move through life reacting to circumstances, to pressure, to whatever feels urgent in the moment. Days turn into years, and before long, people find themselves somewhere they never consciously chose. The future doesn’t arrive by accident. It’s shaped quietly, long before you get there. When you look ahead, really look, what do you see? Not a fantasy. Not a highlight reel. But a life that feels steady, intentional, and aligned with the way you want to live. For many, 2025 was a difficult year. Financial strain, uncertainty, and constant change took their toll. If things didn’t turn out the way you hoped, that doesn’t mean you failed. It means you’ve reached a point where a different decision is required. Real change doesn’t begin with resolutions. It begins with clarity. Clarity about what matters. Cla...