05 May SURPRISE! INTEREST RATES GO UP. AGAIN; OFFICE POLITICS CAN BE JUST AS TOXIC WFH
SURPRISE! INTEREST RATES GO UP. AGAIN.
Well, that was unexpected … This week’s RBA decision to hike up interest rates again – after a pause last month – caught most observers (and investors) by surprise.
In fact, 21 of 30 economists surveyed by Bloomberg ahead of the RBA meeting predicted the cash rate to stay unchanged for a second month – and markets priced almost no chance of the outcome.
Mind you, despite rising inflation, higher mortgage repayments and shaky consumer confidence figures, it seems Australians are not about to give up on some small luxuries.
Figures released this week by Endeavour – the company behind Dan Murphy’s – reported sales worth $2.8 billion across its retail and hotels business over the three months to April 2, an increase of 3.7 per cent on the same time last year.
OFFICE POLITICS CAN BE JUST AS TOXIC WFH
And you thought working from home meant less time spent on office politics.
Not so.
A new survey by Pepperdine Graziadio Business School of 800 US workers found that almost half said the negative effects of office politics remained in a hybrid working era.
More than a third said that rumour spreading and sucking up to managers were the most common problematic behaviours witnessed.
The virtual workplace setting has led some people to feel more inclined to become office “suck-ups” in an effort to ensure they were noticed by their managers.
THE INEQUALITY GAP WIDENS
The inequality gap has hit its worst level since the 1950s.
A new Green Paper by our client, Actuaries Institute Australia, paints a sobering snapshot of inequality in Australia, with the wealthiest 20 per cent of households having six times the disposable income and 230 more net assets than the lowest 20 per cent.
The paper warns the gap could worsen unless wide-ranging government policy reform is undertaken such as increasing rental assistance, expanding age-pension eligibility, and reforming superannuation.
MEANWHILE … ARE PJs A WASTEFUL LUXURY?
Sales of private jets (or ‘PJs’ as the cool kids call them) are likely to reach their highest level this year.
A report by the US Institute of Policy Studies and the Patriotic Millionaires US Group – yes, it’s a thing: a group of wealthy individuals pushing for higher wealth taxes – found that the global PJ fleet has more than doubled in the last 20 years.
With these PJs flying off the shelves (sorry!), what does this mean for mother earth?
It’s not good news. Although PJs account for just four per cent of air travel, they produce almost 10 times as much greenhouse gas per passenger.
Maybe it’s time to park those PJs and fly commercial…
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