”There’s no shortage of topics of interest for investors, so below, we briefly examine four key metrics that are expected to help shape the investment landscape in 2025. On our watchlist are the following: global defense spending, which is set to increase; China’s soaring trade surplus and expectations of rising global protectionism; the federal budget deficit, which we believe is still quite manageable; and the mountain of cash parked in money market funds, which we believe could gradually seep into other asset classes next year. Global Defense Spending: Too Low but Set to Rise. The world is at war, but you would never know it looking at Exhibit 1A. Notwithstanding ground wars in Europe and the Middle East, rising geopolitical tensions in the South China Sea and the budding Great Power Rivalry between the U.S. and China, in addition to the 24/7 war in cyberspace, global defense spending as a percentage of world GDP remains near historic lows.”
Morten W. Langer
