Rachael McKelvey

• Are we entering a social recession?
• A fond goodbye to the first lady of Radio 1
• The Centenarians are on the rise
• SEC Greenlights Bitcoin ETFs
• Have you thought about dying recently?

Are we entering a social recession?
According to the Social Progress Index the answer is we already are. The Social Progress Index is an alternative measure of human progress than that of GDP and was adopted by the EU, Indian Governments and some UK councils over the last 12 years and for the first time the index has gone into reverse showing the extent of global decline in social progress, based on measures that aren’t driven by productivity and output but social and environmental data.

While its likely Covid has left its mark, 66 countries saw a “significant decline” in social progress and more than 77 stagnated with only 32 countries seeing an increase. The decline follows a decade of improvement in all but 4 of the 170 countries…The UK being one of those, in the company of Syria, Venezuela and the US. The report states ‘This downturn marks the world’s first social progress recession in the past decade, primarily attributed to declines in Health, Rights, Voice, and Information & Communications”.

Countries are ranked on 57 different criteria that measure standards of living, from access to opportunities, how basic needs such as sanitation are met, levels of violence, academic freedom and perceptions of corruption. This years findings in particular prove the optimist thinkers right in the sense that GDP isn’t the be all and end all showing that GDP per capita is not delivering abundant returns in lived experience considering its continued rise!

A fond goodbye to the first lady of Radio 1
I was shocked to hear of the death of Annie Nightingale this week, there is no stage of my life that doesn’t know Annie Nightingale, Radio 1’s first ever female DJ and broadcaster and the absolute champion of new music.

Annie’s family announced her death today following her six decades o broadcasting describing her as “pioneer, trailblazer and inspiration to many”. Annie joined Radio 1 in 1970 (which is still 30 years ago if anyone asks) and has never left, for 12 long years it was just Annie before Janice Long jointed in 1982. Annie holds the record for the longest career as a female radio presenter and she absolutely introduced some absolute bangers to the world.

Her families statement included the reminder to “Never underestimate the role model she became. Breaking down doors by refusing to bow down to sexual prejudice and male fear gave encouragement to generations of young women who, like Annie, only wanted to tell you about an amazing tune they had just heard.

The outpouring of love and thanks from other non-male broadcasters has just beautifully highlighted just what a pioneer Annie was, she is sorely missed, and I absolutely still love driving at night and early morning to Annie Nightingale Presents. Rest in peace you absolute legend.

The Centenarians are on the rise
This weeks ONS data drop is on “the very old, including centenarians” of England and Wales and we all know I love a data drop and the geriatric of England and Wales. ONS deem “the very old” to be those over 90 years, who has a population increased by 2.1% from 2021 to 2022 totalling 550,835 people which the highest ever recorded total in that population. Even if you assumed they were all 90 that’s a combined minimum age of 45,575,150 years!

The stats reveal that 15,120 of those are 100 years and over, which is whopping 3.7% increase from 2021 with those at 102, classed as the post-World War One birth co-hort, making up 17% of those 100 and over, which gives me the same feeling as seeing Einstein chatting with Oppenhiemer and being like ‘those two couldn’t have met’ and then finding out when Einstein actually died.

There is some unsettling news, the sex ratio of centenarians has dropped by almost half in 20 years, while in 2002 there were 8.2 women to every man in 2022 this had reduced to just 4.5 women to every man and here is the frustrating bit of data, its just numbers, there is no context to make it information, what’s happened in the last 20 years to decrease the longevity of centenarian women please? *looks around* oh, yeah all that.

It’s the week for data on the centenarians with stats from the US indicating their centenarians have tripled in the last 30 years with their projections that by 2050 there will be more centenarian men than women. On the whole across the world the population is aging and birth rates are declining with data from 2020 showing the number of those aged 60+ outnumber the total numbers of those 5 years old and younger.

SEC Greenlights Bitcoin ETFs
After what feels like a life time and a so close but yet so far just at the start of the week by Wednesday the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US have greenlighted 11 asset managers Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications which opens the crypto investors market up wide, with investors no longer having directly hold crypto or have a digital wallet it means they can invest in it, like any other asset class. The benefit of ETF’s is they can be traded on the stock exchange.

Needless to say, Bitcoin rallied, and prices rose quite spectacularly, Bitcoin had a solid performance last year rising over 150% in the year. Just hours before the SEC announcement the price was $46,500 which considering following the collapse of FTX in November 2022 the price was trailing at $16,000 that is quite a spectacular turn around. The approval of the ETFs could massively increase the price of Bitcoin with expectations at 6 figures before the end of the year.

The SEC remain sceptical about crypto and was careful to state that its decision to approve these 11 Bitcoin EFTs did not mean it endorses bitcoin, or indeed crypto in general. Gary Gensler, the agency’s chairman said
“Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto,”.

Have you thought about dying recently?
I’ve seen a fair few articles recently talking about the importance of thinking about dying and what happens to your assets. While I do think thinking about dying regularly is important I also think its just as important to think about what happens if you’re living but unable to make your own decisions, what then?

Things change, life changes, needs change, asset values change, relationships change, the rules around how much you can give to whom and when might have changed, you might also have moved countries on the same land mass where the processes are different. You also might have thought you had a savings account with the Post Office and it might turn out that you closed that over 12 months ago and completely forgot what you did with the money in it (it wasn’t a lot of money by the way but it was something). The list of what is where is just as important for you, to plan effectively as it is for the person who might need to support you in your decision making or ultimately be left administering your wishes. An executors job is miserable, time consuming and frustrating even the clearest instructions.

It’s also important to remember it’s not just about cash and assets, it’s about memories and things, that photograph on the wall you love that you notice your friends daughter always spends 5 minutes staring at, that inexpensive but sentimental garment that you love that’d you’d love your best friend to have to turn into something beautiful. What things am I waiting to die to start doing that actually I could start doing now if I thought about the possibility just a little bit more. New year new me seems like a good time to check in with “old” you to see if that’s what you still want to happen should things change and their important conversations to have with yourself and those around you and if you don’t know where to start I’m happy to have that conversation with you.

Watch: The Edge of Everything – this documentary follows Ronnie O’Sullivan on and off the snooker table throughout 2021 on his mission to win the Snooker World Championship for a record 7^th time, even if you know nothing about Snooker, chances are you know who Ronnie is, what is does and maybe why he is a famous name. This documentary features his greatest friends, his hardest moments and how he concours everything to be present.

Read: Weather or Not?: The Personal and Commercial Impacts of Weather and Climate by Jim N R Dale – This was a great read, as someone who references seasonality by way of explanation do I actually mean weather? Reading this book, you can see how overlooked it is when making, taking and predicting decisions. Jim has built his life around weather and showing people the power of factoring it in to decision making and strategy, A brilliant book for a rainy day.

Listen: The Modern Mann – Justice by Numbers – This podcast dates back to 2020 and was the first-hand account of the impact of the Horizon software had on a young couple who had sunk their savings into operating a branch of the Post Office. In a week where its madness that an ITV drama has put this in the national and political conscious, it’s their stories that are important to hear. The follow up Return To Sender: The Post Office Scandal Revisited from October last year is also well worth a listen.