So this is quizmas: our inaugural holiday face-off

0:28The Economist we here at The Economist are big into quizzes. Over the years, we've had some staff who in their off time were real quiz champions. You can see how much we love this stuff in our app with our weekly news quiz, a crossword both cryptic and standard, our dateline quiz on news history. It goes on. We are, in a word, quizzical. So for today's show, we're indulging that inclination in a big way. Welcome to our first annual end of year quiz show. Can I get a gong or something here?

1:00Right, before we begin, some introductions are needed. First, we have Rajna Shanbhog, our business affairs editor, alongside Alex Hearn, our resident AI expert. They will be competing as one team. And you guys have come, I think, with a team name. What is it? Of course we have, Jason. We are called the Jason Palmer Fan Club. This is not an attempt to curry favor with our esteemed quiz master. I cry foul. Right. Wait, while we write that down. Bit of a mouthful. JPFC. Right, we'll go with that. JPFC. Right, there is your buzzer. You want to test it out? There we go. Team two, we have Tom Lee Devlin, business section editor, and Adam Roberts, the editor of all things digital.

1:41Good day, sirs. Your team name? Well, we've spent a long time thinking this through. Days and days of effort have gone into it, but we decided to go with the low bar because we think we might be able to just about get over it. The low bar. Singular, not the low bars, which is a musical outfit. Sounds like a non-alcoholic cocktail bar. Right, and you have a buzzer there. Test it out. Hang on, I gotta get the door. Right, so before we get started, I will briefly outline the parameters of the game. It's going to be in three sections. First, we deal with the hard news of the year, politics, wars, AI job apocalypse, all that sort of thing.

2:19And then the sort of fluffier bits of global happenings. And then a secret third section that shall be revealed in due course. Right, questions will mostly be asked by me, but we have some that have been sent in by our lovely colleagues. Each question is worth one point. Once the question is asked, the first team to sound their buzzer will have a chance to respond. If they get it wrong, the opposing team can have a go. Any disputes will be resolved by our two judges there in the control room. Hello, judges. All of the answers appeared in Economist articles this year. Are you ready?

3:01Right, here we go. People the world over are facing a cost-of-living crisis? The inflated price of what product ultimately led to the ouster of a Japanese cabinet mystery? Rice. The answer is indeed rice. Chalk that up to the JPFC. Agriculture Minister Tako Eto was forced to resign after making an offhand comment at a fundraiser that he had, quote, never had to buy rice, thanks to gifts from supporters. Meanwhile, the cost of the Japanese staple has increased by 100 % since the beginning of 2024. I just want to say I was very impressed with the ninja speed with which Alex hit. Yeah, no, you were just a blur.

3:38I was also slightly disappointed it wasn't the editor of the business affairs section. I was getting there. I was getting there. As someone who buys imported Japanese rice to eat in the UK, it has hit my pocketbook. It's high quality rice. Yeah, I feel like that has to be expanded upon. What else to say? It's some of the best rice in the world I buy by the sack. Tell, how heavy is your sack? Five kilos normally. Crossing a head! Was I on holiday to Tokyo this year? Last year. No, two years ago. Did you fill your pockets on the way home? Takes two empty suitcases with him every time. All right, moving on.

4:15In February, Donald Trump posted a video to Truth Social that was generated by AI, which you can hear now. Trump guards are shining bright. Golden future, a brand new light. It showed the Gaza Strip remade with real estate developments, beachfront resorts, and Elon Musk smiling and eating hummus. His suggested answer to the horrific war in Gaza at the time was the eviction of all Palestinians, a full American takeover of the enclave. What did Trump propose it be called? JPFC. Was it the Riviera? Oh, something Riviera. The Gaza Riviera. Our judges say no. Would you like to have a go, Lobar? Wow.

4:59I think Riviera was possible, but it was the what Riviera? How about the new Riviera? Let's do the new Riviera. I'm afraid not it was Riviera of the Middle East. Oh, come on! Palestinians, he said, could not live in a demolition site. Gaza, better for other countries to, quote, open their hearts, take them in and resettle them in new communities. It was actually quite a catchy song. I was impressed by the AI. Okay. Now for our first guest question. Play it in, please, judges. Hi, everyone. Su Lin here. I'm the host of Scam Inc. and based in Singapore. This year, I've been covering the rise of online scams.

5:38So I hope this question isn't too tricky, given fraudsters don't publish quarterly reports. But approximately how much does the global scam industry steal from victims all around the world each year? Low bar. I think it's absolutely enormous. It's something like$10 trillion. No, no, no. JPFC, would you like to have a go? I was going more for$47 billion. Somewhere in between, presumably. A trillion. Somewhere in between. $500 billion, though it's an estimate, of course. Assumed probably to be above that figure, but maybe not like$10 trillion. I know. In retrospect, that is kind of like global GDP.

6:24Twice the GDP. Too much in many ways. Pressing ahead, pressing ahead. Judges say yes. For the next feature of our quiz, many of you will know this, that instead of asking the old boring radio podcast question of what did you have for breakfast when we're setting levels, I often ask guests to come up with a bawdy limerick. Sometimes I really get more than I asked for. So I have crafted one for this question. What you're going to do is tell me what this limerick is about, a big economist story from this year. Once all the knowledge was biblical, then GPUs reached their pinnacle. Now creepy tech dudes offer access to nudes, but all of the stimulation is digital.

7:03The rise of AI porn? Yes! Yes. One point. Scores are tied. But we should give some appreciation on that limerick. That was very, very well crafted. But I thought the answer was... No, absolutely not. On a somewhat related note, which country on July 1st criminalized paying for live porn on sites such as OnlyFans? Sweden. Sweden is correct, JPFC. For our next guest question, play it in, judges. Hello, this is Ethan Wu, host of Money Talks in Singapore. My question is, there's one Southeast Asian leader who had a phone call with Donald Trump on April 4th, just two days after the Liberation Day tariffs.

7:47Who was it? JPFC. Is it Tholam of Vietnam? Yes! Nailed it! That is correct. General Secretary Tholam of Vietnam. The Southeast Asian nation... Hey, hey. Keep it down. Sorry, Dad. The Southeast Asian nation was slapped with alarmingly high tariffs of 46 % in retaliation for the country's$123 billion trade surplus in goods with America. Next question. Which CEO proudly declared, Other shareholders' meetings are like snooze fests. Ours are... Right, low bar. That was Elon Musk. It was Elon Musk. Boy, you guys have been following the Elon Musk stuff closely. Okay, we're going to have to make this harder.

8:32In May, 69-year-old Friedrich Merz won Germany's chancellorship after a nail-biter second round of ballots were cast by parliamentarians. I see twitching hands already. In the run-up to the election, Mr. Merz addressed voters directly on his blog. What did he call his posts? I don't think I've ever knew this one. Honestly, I've got absolutely no idea. Merzivs? Ooh, a fun guess. I don't know if it's a pun that works in German. No? Low bar, would you like to? Well, what about a play on his first name, since they went for his second name?

9:08Freedmails. Yes, let's steal that. Freedmails. The correct answer is Merzmail. Merzmail. I got both halves in two separate answers. Even though it doesn't do ourselves any favour, surely they get something for that. I'm appealing to the judges for half points. The judges are not in a giving mood. That is not the spirit of the season, judges. We're clearly not here to have fun, I realize. We're here to follow the rules and play a quiz. Right. Let's get serious again and play in another guest question. Hey, guys. It's Stevie Hertz, the U.S. policy correspondent. This year saw President Donald Trump do, or try to do, a lot of policy by executive order, including signing 26 orders on his first day back in office.

9:58Which of those executive orders signed on day one was called, quote, blatantly unconstitutional by a federal district court judge just three days later? JPFC. Ban on birthright citizenship? Correct! Nice! JPFC pulling very much into the lead. They're very quick on the trigger. That is correct. The order seeking to end birthright citizenship, the guarantee of citizenship to almost everyone born in America. The ruling blocked the order which, unsurprisingly, the Trump administration has appealed. The Supreme Court is now deciding whether or not to hear the case. Klarna and Affirm lead the way on this new financial...

10:37It was going to be a nail-biter, that one. The low bar? Buy now, pay later. Buy now, pay later financing. It's estimated that BNPL, as those in the know call it, now accounts for$342 billion in spending around the world, up from just over$2 billion a decade ago. So not quite as big as the scam industry at$10 trillion. They will soon join forces and it's going to be enormous. Scam now, pay later. Right, another guest question, please. Hi, I'm Avantika Chulkoti, global business correspondent at The Economist. This year, I wrote a piece about a big listed firm that has lost 6 % of its shares. That's$15 billion of shares that are missing.

11:20Which company was it? A few hints. It's European, family-run, and makes very, very nice Christmas presents.

11:34Unsportsmanlike behavior in the studio. I believe that JPFC got there first, but only just. It was very close shave. Hermes. Hermes is correct. Its founder, Nicolas Pouche, was the largest individual shareholder, with nearly 6 % of the company, a stake that would now be worth 13 billion euros, or 15 billion dollars. But it's gone missing. If you missed that piece, find that long read in our sister magazine, 1843. Okay, fingers on buzzers. Oil exports have long been a mainstay of Iran's sanctions-hampered economy. In order to try and keep revenues up, they've begun choosing their exports of something else.

12:11Wow, it was, I just want you to know before you answer, a multiple-choice question, but I see you don't need that help. We had to be quick because you two are so fast on the buzzers, So I now have to try and do this without the multiple choice. Yes, low bar, raise the bar. I think we're talking about agricultural products here. We're talking about vegetables. Is the correct answer. Iran now supplies nine out of ten cauliflowers, tomatoes, and watermelons imported by the United Arab Emirates, a near monopoly they've built in just a few years. Very good. Cauliflower. Just cauliflower I would have accepted.

12:41What were the range of options? Pianos, cauliflowers, and microchips. I mean... Even I would have got it after that. Right, next question. And this year, in reference to Trump's tariff wars, we talked a great deal about the protectionist Smoot-Hawley tariffs of the 1930s that worsened the Great Depression. Which U.S. president implemented that regime? Oh, no, I don't actually know.

13:06I think it was before Roosevelt, so I think... Hoover before Roosevelt. I think it's Hoover, yeah. Let's see Hoover. We'll go with Hoover. Final answer, Hoover. Hoover is correct. Yes! I knew that was what you were trying to bring in. Marling Hilsson to each other. Right. Exciting stuff. That is the end of round one, and I'm looking at our high-tech scoreboard. Low bar, you have five points. JPFC, five points. Exciting stuff. You got off to a good start, but you're beginning to lose it, I think. Right. So, for those of you at home, we have to take a quick break for the ads, but I'm going to leave you with a specific question to the intelligence to marinate on.

13:45We often have a bit of pun fun with our show titles. I'm going to read you three pun titles. You tell me which of them was not a real show title this year. One, Your Piece or Mine. Two, It's Not the Heat, It's the Morbidity. Or three, Liberté, Égalité, Désodré.

14:07All right, the answer to the pre-break question was number two, It's Not the Heat, It's the Morbidity. It was a proposed title for our episode, where Deputy Editor Robert Guest reported on the rise of malaria in a warming world. The title we chose instead? That warm, buzzy feeling.

14:26Yes. Right, so going into round two, we have a nail-biting tie. So, on we go. This time, not the hard news stuff. We're going to have a little bit more fun, just a bit. This year, we reported on the comeback of a comedian exiled from his home country. A clip from his YouTube channel can be heard here.

15:08Name that comedian. Pass. We might as well have a guess. I'll be assuming... The name. It does not look like either team is ready to have a guess. The comedian is Bassem Youssef, an Egyptian heart surgeon turned comedian who shot to fame during the Arab Spring. He was exiled by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in 2014 and has lived in America since. Right, another guest question to carry us forward. Hello, I'm Alok Jha, the science editor at The Economist and host of our science podcast, Babbage. On April the 15th this year, at 8pm, the Vera Rubin Observatory recorded its very first photons of starlight.

15:50In the coming decade, Rubin will see more detail about the cosmos and unlock more of its unknowns than any machine that has come before. I visited the site of the observatory earlier this year. Which country did I travel to? Wow. Wow. Right, low bar? Chili. Chili is correct. You can catch a rerun of that full episode of Babbage where Alec explores the observatory on New Year's Eve if you missed it originally. This has not been, I mean, for me anyway, this has not been fun enough yet, so we're getting more fun. We have asked Deputy Editor Robert Guest to give a dramatic reading of some lyrics of an artist we profiled in The Economist this year.

16:34Why so sexy if so dumb? and how survived the earth so long? If I'm not there, it won't get done. I choose to blame your mom. Lobar. I think it is Sabrina Carpenter. It is Sabrina Carpenter. I did whisper in Tom's ear, it's not Sabrina Carpenter, it's someone else. Right, bonus point then. What's the name of the song? Nespresso. Do you want to have a go, Lobar? No, all I know is it's a song about men, but I don't know the title of it. Manchild. Right. Fingers on buzzers. This is going to be... What was Netflix's most popular film in 2025? Green or something. Oh, my God. Low bar. K-pop Demon Hunters.

17:23Correct. Oh, God, this is a disaster. It's going to get cut from the edit, but I want the audience to know they were given lots of hints. Hello. This is Shirley Shitness, business writer at The Economist. My question is, we wrote about a 17-year-old athlete who we dubbed the fastest kid on earth. He's faster than Usain Bolt was at the same age. And he has a very catchy name. Who is he? He's from Australia. Is not the question. And he's got a name that begins with S, I think. Half a point? Half a point? Half a sloop? Wow. So wrong. JPFC, would you like to have a go? No, I can't. There is Gout Gout.

18:07Quite a sensation, this young man. Australia love him. Partly because of the name, partly because he is just brilliant. There you go. Gout Gout. Right. Tis the season for Christmas cards, but this year will be the last... Wow. You guys love that story. That was us. That was us. That was you. Yes, fine. JPFC? Denmark. Denmark is the correct answer. Okay, so for the listeners at home who did not get to hear the other half of that question, This year will be the last year for Christmas cards to be delivered in which European country as it becomes the first to end letter collection. Over the past 25 years, the volume of letters has declined by 90 % in the country.

18:45Bright red post boxes with a post horn and the Danish crown have adorned the country streets since the mid-1800s, but now any mail will have to be dropped off and picked up from a private company. Hi, this is Sarah Wu, the Economist China correspondent in Beijing. My question for you is, where are most of the world's artificial Christmas trees and decorations produced? There's a very specific one. Ooh, JPFC. Is it Yiwu in China? Yiwu is correct. Very good. Nearly two-thirds. We have not actually published that story yet. We will. We will. We will. Yiwu is correct. Nearly two-thirds of the world's Christmas products are manufactured in East China's Yiwu, an inland city in Zhejiang province.

19:28The industry has been hammered this year by American tariffs. It's in two stories, the judges are telling me. It's a little hard for us to know the answer to that one. You've actually read the story. Okay, next we are going to play you sounds associated with news stories from the year. Just tell me the story that the sound is associated with. Here is the first.

19:58Okay, if that's not clear enough, I would really have an extra clue to help you with this. You hear that sound? Oh, that's music to my ears. I love that sound. It reminds me of money. JPFC? Drilling for oil in America. Drilling for oil in America is not the right answer. Low bar, you want to have a go? Something to do with manufacturing and tariffs and America and Donald Trump. Does that narrow it down enough? This is the thing. I was trying to go broad, but I went broad in a way that was both wrong and made me sound simple. The sounding like money, I think, is misdirection. The answer is, that is the demolition of the East Wing of the White House to make way for a new ballroom.

20:42Okay, let's have another sound.

20:47Low bar. Restoration in Notre Dame. Incorrect. JPFC, would you like to have a go? Please may we hear the full clip. The full clip, please. And the clue. Can you use the clip in a sentence?

21:02Is that the clue? That is the entire clip. I didn't get anything more. Good luck with this one. And he had my guess. Is it the Sagradia Familia being finished in Barcelona? Ooh, not a bad guess. No. It is the bells ringing at the Vatican. In the Vatican for the new Pope. What kind of Italians do you call yourselves? It is bells ringing at the Vatican as white smoke signals the election of a new Pope in May. Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pope born in Chicago.

21:37Right, that is it for round two. Let's have a look at the scores on the doors. Low bar, you have eight points. JPFC 7 points can I just say stop the count this is perfectly fine we'll just stop here no there's a really really uncomfortable section 3 yet to come

22:03final part of the quiz are you ready this one's going to work a little differently each team will have 4 quick fire questions and a chance to earn 1 point for each the challenge is I'm going to read you a quote. You are going to tell me if it was said by a politician in 2025 or by one of the cast, I should say, of Real Housewives. Which Real Housewives, point of order? Let me check with the judges. The entire franchise. All of them, okay. The entire franchise of the Real Housewives. Is there more than one Real Housewife? Many, many Real Housewives. See, the fact that you know that fact, I think you guys are going to have the edge here.

22:39Okay, so, Lobar, you are in the lead with eight points. would you like to go first or second? Let's go second, then we know what we're aiming at. Okay, very well. JPFC, I'm going to read you a quote. You tell me, politician or real housewife? When privileged white people get together dressed in white, it's a bit like the KKK. Housewife? He said confidently, yes, one point. It was in fact a real housewife, Lisa Oldfield, from Real Housewives of Sydney, when she turned up to a white party on a yacht dressed in black. As I'm sure you recall, Next one. I'll leave him alone. He's got enough problems with his wife.

23:18She's terrible. That sounds pretty chumpy. Hey, hey, hey. Oh, sorry. Give me a chance. Yes, before we get met. Okay, politician. Politician, correct. President Donald Trump on why he's not bothering to deport Prince Harry. Next one. I'm not Michelle Obama. You go low, I'm going low with you. Alex, I defer to your housewives here. No, I think that might be a politician as well. Obviously, I'm now playing in churches as well, aren't I? Let's say politician. It was a real housewife, specifically Candy Burris from the Real Housewives of Atlanta. Okay. Last one. Hi, my name is blank and my pronouns are broke and irrelevant.

23:59Housewives. Okay. I can give my rationale, but I think it's housewives. I want to hear the rationale. Wow. I think the rationale is that the joke is too funny for someone who thinks pronouns are silly and too spicy for someone who thinks they're not. That's good thinking, but wrong. Oh, my God. Okay. It's politician Canadian Don Davies at a recent press gala. He's the new leader of a political party, the NDP, that drove itself into the ground in the last election. Right. How many points? Two points from that? You got two points from that round. Over to you, Low Bar. That just means to tie things up, you need one.

24:38Yes. And to win, you need two of the following four quotes. You know the drill. Are you ready? We're tense. We're worried, but we're ready. I'm being a little cute. I don't think there's anything that's going to get me into heaven. I think I'm not maybe heaven bound. I mean, that sounds Trumpy. Yeah, I think it's, I think Trump. Let's go with, let's go with Trump. We'll do that, we'll go politician. Politician it is. President Donald Trump set aboard Air Force One in October on his way to the Middle East. Next one, I'm a growth specialist, with or without money. Housewife. Housewife, yeah. I mean, as an avid watcher of it, you should know.

25:13I've never heard of a politician. Oh, growth specialist, well, actually maybe. I think there's some sneaky question setting here, and they put the word growth in because it sounds like the sort of thing a politician would talk about, but actually it's a housewife thing. All right, let's go with housewife. Housewife. Final answer, housewife. politician Javier Malay president of Argentina in a speech on economic policy he's a growth specialist I mean Javier Malay could have said literally anything right right right next one I need an investigation opened I'm being accused of something I did not do I'm going to send you information and I want you to go the distance on it the distance still housewives housewives Taza housewife Lisa Barlow on the real housewives of Salt Lake City how many of them are there 10 Right.

26:00We're all learning something here today, guys. We are tied. Last one, then. The era of unprofessional appearance is over. No more beardos. Oh, no, I know who this is. Yeah, that's Hegseth. Yeah, that's Hegseth. Could we get a bonus point for saying it's Hegseth? It's Pete Hegseth. Politician or housewife? He's a politician. He's a politician. Pete Hegseth, secretary of defense or war, depending on your pronouns. Sorry. It is Pete Hegseth, United States Secretary of War, or Defense, on implementing grooming standards for American troops.

26:41And so we bring our inaugural quiz show to a close. The final scores, low bar on 10 points. Jason Palmer, fan club, I'm afraid your... Korean favor did not work for us. Korean favor did not work out for you, nine points. Now, I have here, for the big reveal, for your trouble, for your glory, for your honour, a trophy. That's a thing of beauty. The greatest of all time, or goat. It's a little statuette of a goat. And there, it's inscribed that you are our champions. I think we're just deeply honoured. Thank you. Lost for words. I want to hear the Fiera decision, by the way.

27:29Thank you all for participating in the Intelligence's inaugural quiz. You guys will have to come back and defend your title next year for now. Thanks very much, guys. Thank you. And happy holidays. Thank you very much. Happy Christmas. Happy Christmas.

27:54I love you.