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Hi Viking, yes we hit 20 years on February 20, 2022...going on our 21st year this February! Cheers!

Happy holidays to all board members. Sanjeev, thank you for starting this board 20? years ago. The insight and advice received over the years has been life changing for me and my family. This board really has been the gift that keeps on giving. Thanks also to all board members for sharing their thoughts, perspectives and knowledge. Thanks also to those who posted in the past… i especially remember bsilly for helping get us through the especially dark days (back in 2003 when Fairfax traded under C$100)… All the best in 2023! Crazy that another year is almost over.

I think China is an important player in the war. China’s support of Russia is already accelerating the West’s move away from China. I am not sure China wants the West to accelerate its pivot even further as it would have more severe economic consequences for China. The chip sanctions were a shot across the bow. If Russia escalates the war into other European/NATO states then China will likely experience collateral damage. US and European hawks will have a field day. And it could be severe for China. 2023 is shaping up to be another very crazy/interesting year. The geopolitical world is shifting. And in a big way. The iron curtain coming down in 1989 was a big deal for global economies and financial markets. China joining the WTO in 2001 was also a big deal. Both developments ushered in decades of global prosperity. As 2022 draws to a close we now know BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT that those days are gone for good. A thing of the past. Russia and China have decided it is time for a new global regime. They have decided the global world order needs to be disrupted and at its very core (taking a page from Clayton Christensen’s book The Innovator’s Dilemma). Russia and China feel they have leverage over the West and the time is right to exercise that leverage. Long live authoritarianism. The split of the world into two blocks (authoritarian vs Western democracies) will be equally as impactful and will play out over decades.