By Simon Robinson
(Reuters) – Inflation fell in most of the world’s economies in 2024, but voters didn’t care.
Angered by sharp increases in prices for everything from eggs to energy in recent years, she punishes the establishment parties at almost every opportunity. The pain of inflation continues and ruling parties have taken the blame in election after election.
In the United States, higher costs helped Donald Trump win a second term as president, four years after he was voted out of the White House and then falsely claimed voter fraud. His attempt to overturn Trump’s defeat by storming the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 failed. This year, they made their voices heard at the ballot box and ushered in new American leadership that is likely to test democratic institutions at home and abroad.
Inflationary anti-incumbent sentiment also led to new governments in Britain and Botswana, Portugal and Panama. South Korean voters have brought the opposition to power in parliament, keeping President Yoon Suk Yeol in check. In early December, the president declared martial law, a move that the National Assembly quickly reversed. The elections also shocked France and Germany as well as Japan and India.
There was no change in one place: Russia, where Vladimir Putin was re-elected president with 88% of the vote, a record in post-Soviet Russia.
Moscow continued its war against Ukraine, making significant territorial gains in the process. The big question is what impact Trump’s return to the White House will have on the conflict. He promised to end the war in one day. Many in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe fear that this would mean siding with Putin and freezing the status quo.
In the Middle East, Israel continued its war on Gaza and expanded it into Lebanon, leaving the Iranian-backed Hezbollah damaged and in disarray. In Syria, a well-coordinated group of rebel groups have overthrown Bashar al-Assad and are now trying to rule the country.
In business, companies around the world are grappling with how to adapt to artificial intelligence. The dominance of technology companies for investors can be summed up in this simple fact: Seven technology companies – the so-called Magnificent Seven – now account for more than a third of the S&P 500’s market capitalization.
Elon Musk, who runs one of these companies, Tesla (NASDAQ:), is an advisor and financial backer to President-elect Trump. Looking ahead, this combination of tech bro mojo and political power could shape 2025.
