One of the world's most important economic indicators has been updated and I rush to meet my local Ronald #McDonalds to verify its accuracy. Yes, the #Economist Big Mac Index is the best single number I know of that measures Purchasing Power Parity across most countries that have an economy with a heartbeat. The world famous sandwich is also the perfect barometer product (in #Thailand it costs less than 2 quid) since unlike that country's national food and other measures of global finance (from, for example, the IMF!) it is consistently non-spicy! See more on BMI here: http://is.gd/zzyUyu

In the 1990s an ex-army mate started to collate a database of global terrorist incidents in his garage. I always thought he was smart but a bit odd and this confirmed it. Ten years later he sold the data company he founded for $13M. I wish I was that Odd! As I consume the news output from the world’s media companies (#CNN, #BBC, #CNBC etc) I realise how narrow the news we get is and how right my mate was. In fact on a daily basis there are lots of violent ‘incidents’ that affect the world economy and we hear nothing of them if you only consume the diatribe of the popular 24 hour news channels.

Understanding economics is easy. In the short run it's all about INCENTIVES, in the Long Run it's all about DEMOGRAPHICS. The more I travel the world the more I realise that the latter has a big impact on the short run too. Birth and death rates and MIGRATION are massive issues for global decision makers today. They impact public service resources, taxes and budgets.The chart below is one example of the statistics that bring understanding of these variables. For example, I am looking at smart investing in those countries with lots of young people who can strive to give me a long-term return.