1 Japan export slump
enters seventh month (Straits Times) Japan's exports fell 10.1 per cent in
April from a year earlier, down for a seventh straight month, Ministry of
Finance data showed, reflecting sluggish demand from China and emerging
markets.
That matched a 10 per
cent decrease expected by economists in a Reuters poll, and followed a 6.8 per
cent drop in March. Imports plunged 23.3 per cent in April, versus the median
estimate for a 19 per cent decrease. The trade balance came to a surplus of
823.5 billion yen, against the median estimate for a 492.8 billion yen surplus.
2 Flexibility as the
new injustice (Phillip Inman in The Guardian) As a new documentary on release
now shows, the pressures of modern work go well beyond the factory floor. The
Divide reminds us of Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett’s book The Spirit
Level, which documents how those in better-off societies and better-off jobs
are making themselves unhappy.
From 2001 we saw a
flurry of initiatives designed to deal with falling incomes and rising costs in
a desperate attempt to maintain living standards. Labour’s introduction of tax
credits in 2003 was the main prop under household incomes, extending as it did
to those earning up to £60,000.
But other ways to maintain
incomes – for instance, flexible working – allowed parents to dovetail working
hours to minimise childcare costs. Flexibility came in the form of
self-employment, flexible rotas and, to a lesser extent, zero-hour contracts.
Each of these has transformed the labour market.
The numbers of those in
self-employment, after decades hovering around the 3 million mark, began to
increase in 2001. Now there are 4.6 million self-employed people and they
account for 15% of the workforce. There is scant research into what the newly
self-employed do. The Royal Society of Arts has reported that thousands are
young digital entrepreneurs. Others have set themselves up as drivers
delivering the ever-growing mountain of stuff bought online.
In the five years after
the financial crash the majority of new jobs were part-time, temporary or
self-employed. It wasn’t until 2014 that full-time employment edged into the
lead. If the 1990s was characterised by increasing debt to fund a decent
living, flexible working is the cancer eating away at 21st century workers.
The defenders of
flexible working argue that people like it. They are supported by surveys that
show most appreciate being offered it. But as employment expert John Philpott
points out, those who say they like zero-hours contracts are generally students
and older workers, who have another income to fall back on.
Even full-time workers
say the flexibility they like does not come from draconian rota systems, but
from time off to look after a sick child, and the opportunity to take leave or
make up the hours another time. Working weekends and nights is rarely a
pleasure.
Regulators like the
Bank of England are oblivious to the problems that are being stored up. Almost
everyone on its interest-rate-setting committee believes that GDP growth will
bring back permanent full-time employment. They should realise that, in an era of
corporate anxiety and low investment, the trend will remain in the opposite
direction.
3 Airbus unveils 3D-printed
electric bike (San Francisco Chronicle) What weighs 77 pounds, goes 50 mph and
looks like a Swiss cheese on wheels? An electric motorcycle made from tiny
aluminum alloy particles using a 3D printer.
European aeronautics
giant Airbus unveiled the 'Light Rider ' in Germany on Friday. Manufactured by
its subsidiary APWorks, a specialist in additive layer manufacturing, the
motorcycle uses hollow frame parts that contain the cables and pipes. The frame
weighs just 13 pounds, about 30 percent less than conventional e-motorbikes.
APWorks chief executive
Joachim Zettler said the complex, branched hollow structure wouldn't have been
possible with conventional production technologies such as milling or welding. The
company is taking orders for a limited run of 50 motorbikes, costing 50,000
euros ($56,095), plus tax, each. They'll have a range of 37 miles (60
kilometers).
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