#39 The Meaning of Life with Nick Leeson

In this episode I was delighted to welcome back my old friend, the rogue trader himself, Mr Nick Leeson. Always one of the more popular guests on my show, this has to be my most wide ranging conversation with Nick to date. It is 30 years this year, since Nick was headhunted by Barings bank, to go to Singapore, to run their Far East operation. I start of the conversation by asking Nick how he thinks about time now, and how he values and looks upon time. From that we move through the gears and the conversation covers a wide range of topics including the importance of self esteem for people, and also the fact that Nick believes it was his working class upbringing in Watford, which gave him the motivation and ambition to achieve some kind of success in life.  With over 30 years of experience in trading in the financial markets, there is no better person to talk to about the economy right now, and where things might be heading.  It is Nick's opinion that the markets have never been so aggressive as they are now, and his advice is to get out if you can at the moment, as opposed to getting or staying in.  Volatility is the name of the game right now,  and it looks like after a couple of decades of decreasing interest rates to 0%, we are now entering a new phase of interest rate hikes, with the defacto leader of the financial world, Jerome Powell, who runs the FED in the US, indicating as much in the last few days. Nick talks about the importance of leadership in difficult times and maybe the lack of leadership many of us have experienced over the last twenty four months. I finish our conversation asking Nick about his views on Crypto / Bitcoin.  He has always been pretty sceptical about all of this, and to be fair to him, he continues to be.  However I enjoyed the exchange of views in this regard and I did get Nick to agree with me that over the next twenty years, we will see Central Bank digital currencies in play, most likely alongside Bitcoin and many other crypto currencies.  I really enjoyed this conversation, and I hope you get some value from it. If you have a moment, i would love if you could leave a quick review, at wherever you get your podcasts, and feel free to share this conversation with any of your friends. Look after yourself, and I will speak to you guys again soon, CD ☘