It is not only paper gold which is Fake. Few investors realize that most of their investments are Fake.

Fake news and Fake assets are everywhere. Let’s start with social media which dominates major parts of the world. Facebook, for example, has 2 billion active users. WhatsApp has 1.2 billion users and Instagram 700 million. There will obviously be quite a lot of overlap between the various social media. But what it is clear that these three Apps reach billions of people and their power is much bigger than that of any other media; Social Media has more impact than newspapers or than television and is the only media that 2-3 billion people follow regularly. Most people and in particular young people don’t watch television and don’t read the papers. They get all their “news” from social media.

SOCIAL MEDIA SOURCE OF FAKE NEWS

Social media is instant gratification. You post something or you send a message and you get a message back or a number of likes which generates dopamine and makes you momentarily happy. But as I have experienced from our many grandchildren, social media is a perfect source of Fake news. Many young people using social media will be receivers of Fake News or bullying. Social media is perfect for spreading false rumors which are very often difficult to get rid of. Trump’s Twitter account is another example of alleged Fake News. Trump accuses the papers and television of Fake News and they accuse him of the same.

This is the world we live in today – a world with Fake markets, Fake assets, Fake values, Fake money, Fake people and Fake news.

FAKE IDENTITY

There was recently an interesting example of Fake identity in Sweden. The head of Sweden’s biggest security company, Securitas, had his identity stolen in March. A loan of an undisclosed amount was then taken out by the person who stole the identity. The loan was not repaid and the Fake head of Securitas was declared bankrupt on July 10th. The real head of the company was not aware and has been fighting to reinstate his honor and position.

We are now in a world where everything becomes electronic entries. Real people are no longer important. We are just all electronic entries in a register.