Young people are rioting in Germany and marching in France over the cost of living. Google lost half a trillion dollars because its own AI is eating into its ad money. The Gulf is being told to get used to higher prices. And after 43 years, Christiane Amanpour is leaving CNN. Four stories this Sunday, and what our guests have told me about each one.
Europe’s cost of living revolt
Rioters looted shops in central Frankfurt late on Saturday, with violence in Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg, and police used water cannon. Thousands had joined largely peaceful marches earlier in the day, organised by the campaign group Gen Z regelt, over school funding, the cost of living, spending cuts and military service. More than 320,000 people demonstrated in France the same day.
Peter Schiff told me who ends up paying for easy money: “The policies they’re pursuing now are making things more difficult on Main Street while they’re enriching people on Wall Street… The quantitative easing is just making it more expensive for you to eat, or to heat your house, or to drive to your office if you even still have a job.”
▶ Watch Peter Schiff from 19:38
When a generation can’t afford the life it was promised, it stops being polite about it.
Google’s AI is eating its own ad money
Alphabet lost just over $500 billion in value on Thursday after saying its own AI summaries were hitting search advertising revenue. Its chief business officer said the AI mode was eating into the money it makes from ads next to traditional search results, while saying he felt very good about the trajectory.
Jim Rickards told me in 2023 where this was heading: “They’re saying artificial intelligence is the death of the search engine. And it is, and that’s why Google’s all over AI. Google’s done. The Google search engine… it’s probably obsolete already.”
▶ Watch James Rickards from 1:14:21
Google still makes a fortune from search. But the market has started pricing in what happens if people stop searching.
The Gulf told to get used to higher prices
A senior UN official, Abdullah Al Dardari of the UN Development Programme, says the Iran war and the Hormuz stand-off are forcing people across the Middle East to adapt to a higher cost of living at a pace that would normally take decades. The IMF expects Gulf economies to shrink 4.8% this year, with a sharp recovery in 2027.
Former CIA officer Andrew Bustamante told me why Iran’s leverage goes well beyond oil: “People forget that Iran is also the breadbasket to the Middle East… Almost all of your fresh food all across the Middle East comes from Iran. So Iran can quickly put a vice grip on all of America’s closest allies in the Middle East.”
▶ Watch Andrew Bustamante from 29:09
Everyone watches the tankers. Watch the food too.
Christiane Amanpour leaves CNN after 43 years
Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s chief international anchor, announced last month that she will sign off next June, after 43 years at the network. Her parting advice: always be truthful, not neutral.
She told me what that takes: “We have to get back to being the truth seekers who drive a truck through the left and the right. And that takes knowledge, it takes experience, it takes courage, and it takes purpose. It takes taking your profession seriously.”
▶ Watch Christiane Amanpour from 20:12
Whatever you think of cable news, that is a standard worth keeping.
Which of these stories are you watching? Tell me on X at @brianbrose.
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