In recent months, debates about global economic inequality have reached boiling point. In Britain, voters will soon decide whether to exit the European Union against the backdrop of a growing Brexit movement fuelled by perceptions of an unfair European trading system.
The Obama Administration issued new rules this week that will allow millions more Americans to qualify for overtime pay. The Labor Department regulation, which will take effect in December, will double the annual threshold that helps determine who qualifies for overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a week.
Under the new rules, anyone who makes less than US$47,476 will be eligible for overtime pay (the old threshold was $23,660).
Reading the headlines on Gen Y, Gen X and millennials it’s clear many people believe distinct generational categories exist, that there are very real differences between them,
The world today is characterised by increasing variety, interdependency and connectivity, complexity, change, ambiguity, seamlessness and sustainability. There’s no doubt that more intelligent leaders are needed to deal with these emerging challenges and demands.
However, the world is relentlessly fast and dynamic. This means that leaders face a real risk of becoming merely the sum total of unreflected, undigested, constantly and rapidly accumulating experiences and information.
The head office of the 7-Eleven franchise is dismantling an independent claims panel headed by Professor Allan Fels, established in the immediate wake of the underpayments scandal. In its place, 7-Eleven Stores Pty Ltd (7-Eleven) intends to process any outstanding wage claims in-house.
In response, Professor Fels is calling for the Senate to reopen the original inquiry into the scandal now that the compensation process has been railroaded by head office:
A structural change is underway in global dairy markets. A perfect storm has emerged through a coincidence of events, technology and policy changes across the major dairy producing nations, including Australia, which will result in a long-term significant reset of dairy economics across the globe.
Ship tracking data from Bloomberg shows that 83 supertankers carrying around 166 million barrels of oil are headed to China, which has stockpiled an impressive 787,000 barrels a day in the first quarter of 2016—the highest stockpiling rate since 2014.
While the world was speculating about oil prices plunging to $20 and $10 per barrel, China was busy stockpiling its reserves.
The chart below shows an increase in imports as crude prices collapsed. Since the beginning of this year, China has imported a record quantity of oil.
One key goal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was to lower health care costs by giving consumers more choice over their insurer.
Economic theory suggests that when consumers make informed and active choices in a competitive market, companies respond by lowering prices and improving the quality of their offerings.
