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Happy Boxing Day, beautiful people!

We hope you all had a festive Christmas, and by ‘festive’ we mean eating too much, watching Love Actually for the 15th time, and getting into drunken arguments with your family.

Enough about you. Let’s talk about us.

It’s our last edition of the year, which is putting us in a sentimental mood.

We greatly appreciate all 10,000+ of you who have subscribed, and we are beyond excited to continue building this community of somewhat informed meme-lovers.

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⏰ Today's reading time is 5 minutes

Quote of the Week

Government waters down inheritance tax plan for British farmers

The Labour government has given another masterclass in backpedalling, going back on its plan to tax inherited farmland.

The change comes after months of protests, which involved farmers driving their tractors into central London and Jeremy Clarkson getting into arguments with the BBC whilst “off his tits on Codeine.” 

The threshold for a new 20% inheritance tax has been lifted from £1 million to £2.5 million, meaning a farming couple can now pass on up to £5 million in assets tax-free thanks to spousal exemptions.

The original plan would have ended the 100% relief that’s existed since the 1980s, raising £520 million a year and hitting around 2,000 estates.

The revised version cuts that to about 1,100, at a cost of £130 million to the Treasury.

Farmers’ groups say it spares many family farms but still hurts cash-poor businesses sitting on valuable land and machinery.

Critics argue the real targets should be wealthy investors cosplaying as farmers in order to get a tax break.

Despite Trump hailing an October “truce” with Xi Jinping on rare earths, US manufacturers say little has changed where it actually matters.

China has loosened exports of finished magnets, but is still restricting the raw materials needed to make them, undercutting Washington’s push to build domestic supply chains.

Industry figures say US firms can buy Chinese magnets, but not key inputs like dysprosium metal and oxide.

That keeps American processing and magnet-making dependent on China, which already dominates the sector. Official data back the unease. Magnet exports to the US fell 11% in November, even as China’s overall rare earth exports rose.

Temporary export licences are expiring, and companies fear renewal delays will quietly choke the supply of rare earths.

Rare earths have been years in the making for China, so it’s unlikely they were going to let a functionally illiterate oompa loompa screw up their very, very lucrative business for them.

As the architect of modern China Deng Xiaoping said: “The Middle East has oil. China has rare earths.”

US economy expands at the fastest rate in two years

The US economy picked up speed over the three months to September, as consumer spending jumped and exports increased.

"This is an economy that has defied doom and gloom expectations basically since the beginning of 2022", said Aditya Bhave, senior economist at Bank of America.

"I don't see why that wouldn't continue going forward," he added.

Trump took credit for the gains of course, saying that his tariffs have been responsible for the numbers, whilst ignoring the fact Americans are growing increasingly impatient with his handling of the economy.

4.3% GDP growth in Q3 and the S&P 500 going within touching distance of its all-time high seems fab, but there’s some cause for concern.

The tech giants/usual suspects (Amazon, Meta, Google, Nvidia and Microsoft) are expected to spend nearly $400 billion on AI this year alone, rising to $600 billion annually.

Much of it is being funded by debt, with AI-linked companies now responsible for roughly 30% of all new US corporate credit issuance.

UK campaigners denied US visas, accused of being part of global censorship industrial complex

The Trump administration has denied US visas to five European figures accused of trying to pressure American tech firms into censoring speech.

Among them are two Britons: Imran Ahmed of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, a former Labour adviser with links to senior party figures, and Clare Melford of the Global Disinformation Index.

The State Department, sounding suspiciously similar to my nutty uncle after a couple of drinks, branded them “radical activists” tied to a “global censorship industrial complex”.

A former EU tech commissioner, Thierry Breton, and two German anti-hate campaigners were also targeted.

Washington says the bans defend US sovereignty and free speech, whilst Europe is saying the complete opposite.

The cynics among us may argue the real issue at hand here is is the EU’s Digital Services Act, of which the aforementioned Breton was a key architect.

EU delays Mercosur signing as 25-year curse drags on

The EU has delayed its Mercosur trade deal yet again, after Italy pulled support at the last minute and forced Brussels to push a planned December signing into mid-January.

PM Giorgia Meloni told Brazil’s president she backs the deal in principle, but wants firmer guarantees for Italian farmers first, which was enough to derail Ursula von der Leyen’s planned trip to seal it.

The pact, negotiated on and off for 25 years, would create one of the world’s largest free-trade zones with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

It’s also a political minefield. France, Italy and Poland remain wary, largely due to farmer backlash.

Germany and Spain on the other hand, are desperate to move ahead, with the former wanting to focus on remilitarising and the latter on its government not imploding.

Even if member states fall into line, the deal still faces a hostile European Parliament, where opponents are eyeing legal challenges that could freeze it for years.

Not to worry, it only took Italians around 2,000 years to start to build a bridge. This should be resolved relatively quickly.

Trump says the US will keep or sell oil seized from Venezuela

Donald Trump says the US will keep or sell both the oil and the tankers it has seized off Venezuela, as Washington ramps up pressure on Venezeluen dictator and Saddam Hussein lookalike Nicolás Maduro.

Two oil tankers have already been taken this month, with the Coast Guard chasing a third vessel linked to what the US calls Venezuela’s sanctions-evading “dark fleet”.

Trump suggested the oil could be sold or fed into US strategic reserves, while openly linking the seizures to his push to remove Maduro from power.

The administration accuses Caracas of using oil revenues to fund drug trafficking.

The US has also carried out lethal strikes on alleged trafficking boats and is now threatening similar operations on land. Maduro hit back, telling Trump to focus on ‘his own problems.’

With Venezuela’s economy heavily dependent on oil exports, the seizures escalate an already aggressive US blockade.

It is now headed for an emergency UN Security Council debate, where delegates will talk each others ears off about it for 4 hours and nothing of any substance will be done about the situation.

But hey, they get to park wherever they like, so that’s a plus.

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🍻Half Pints

Quick-fire news you might have missed

‘The King’s Speech’ of the Week

King Charles III gave his annual Christmas Day speech, citing the spirit of the second world war generation, which he said ‘displayed qualities that have shaped both the UK and the former colonies Commonwealth’.

He also called for ‘reconciliation and unity after a year of deepening division’.

Except if your brother is a pervert.

In that case reconciliation is a bit trickier.

That’s all for today, but before you go…

We’re always open to feedback (and hate-mail), so feel free to reply and we’ll get back to you within 5 “working” days.

Barring a natural disaster or being kidnapped by the intelligence services, we’ll see you next week.

Thanks to Nick and Laurence