1 IMF warning on UK housing bubble risk (BBC) he
International Monetary Fund has warned the government that accelerating house
prices and low productivity pose the greatest threat to the UK's economic
recovery. It said rising property values could leave households more vulnerable
to income and interest rate shocks. It also called on the Bank of England to
enact policy measures "early and gradually" to avoid a housing
bubble.
In April, the IMF said the UK economy would grow by
2.9% in 2014. The Fund's annual health check of the UK economy found it has
"rebounded strongly and growth is becoming more balanced" adding
economic growth would "remain strong this year."
It is a significant turnaround from last year when
the IMF's chief economist Oliver Blanchard appeared to have a public falling
out with the chancellor after he criticised the government's austerity
policies. This year IMF managing director Christine Lagarde admitted the Fund
"got it wrong" in its assessment adding that while the UK's economic
recovery began with consumer spending, it was now rebalancing towards an
"investment-led recovery".
The IMF report said: "House price inflation is
particularly high in London, and is becoming more widespread. So far, there are
few of the typical signs of a credit-led bubble. "Nonetheless, a steady
increase in the size of new mortgages compared with borrower incomes suggests
that households are gradually becoming more vulnerable to income and interest
rate shocks." It added: "Macroprudential policies should be the first
line of defence against financial risks from the housing market."
2 Mind the generation gap (Omaira Gill in Khaleej
Times) I suppose you finally feel like you have matured as opposed to aged when
you begin to notice the generation coming up behind you, and in time honoured
fashion, think they are complete idiots. Generation Y is the first generation
for whom the internet has just always been there. They are constantly
connected, communicating 24/7 in a relentless barrage of tweets, emails and
status updates.
They have to contend with your usual garden variety
bullying as well as cyber bullying. Personally I can’t imagine a more
nightmarish combination than Facebook and the high school years. They are hyper
aware of their appearance and unlike Generation X who smile like fools at any
camera, Generation Y have perfected smiling with their eyes, meaningful looks
and pouts. They have taken so many selfies that they know exactly which their
best angles are.
Generation Y is the homeworking, startup launching,
tweeting and twerking voice of tomorrow. In the UK, a recent survey showed that
around 30 per cent of the population is prejudiced in some way. The highest
level of prejudice against foreigners was recorded amongst manual labourers
such as builders, the working class in the UK’s class-obsessed terms. The
lowest prejudice against foreigners was reported amongst Generation Y.
So I suppose you could say that in the UK at least
the makeup of society is being decided by the working class against the
twerking class. Generation Y is a force to be reckoned with. The problem is
that they don’t know it, and peeling them away from their social media feeds
long enough to get them to engage responsibly in political processes like
voting is harder than getting a Kardashian on the news for doing something
meaningful for society.
3 Oh, not another networking event! (James Adonis in
Sydney Morning Herald) Look, maybe it’s because I’m an introvert, but I would
rather eat chalk than attend any kind of networking event. There are many other
people too, I’m sure, who are equally tired of the nauseating ‘what do you do’
question, the obligatory business-card swapping, and the awkwardness of trying
to infiltrate a clique whose body language clearly shouts “not welcome”.
Yes, we’re aware of the benefits. It’s just that,
for some of us, there has to be a better way. A way that doesn’t involve the
toleration of tacky ‘elevator pitches’, the frenzied urgency to recruit more
members, and the persistent request to place your card in a goldfish bowl for
the ultimate purpose of spam.
In her bestselling book, Networking for People who
Hate Networking, Devora Zack provides the following advice for introverts: Rather
than attend too many events, choose instead just a few but do them well. Volunteer
to join a committee or a board so that you can build connections in a more
meaningful manner. On arrival, join a queue – such as the one for food –
because that makes it easier to start a conversation with the person in front
or behind you. Take the pressure off by talking less about yourself and more
about the person with whom you’re conversing.
One review oft studies, conducted by the Queensland
University of Technology, found unsurprisingly that introverts (unlike
extroverts) prefer to do their networking online. That’s because it provides
them with protection and solitude and, initially at least, some anonymity. As a
paper published in the Cyber Psychology & Behaviour journal attests: “On
the internet, no one knows I’m an introvert.”
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