See the world through the eyes of an economist.
Bringing Boys to the Political Party
Polls currently have Saturday’s election going to Labor, but polls have been a bit fallable in recent years. I thought this chart from the Australian Election Study was interesting. It shows that the global trend for young men to tilt conservative is evident in Australia too. I don’t think this will be as big a factor in Australia as it was in the recent US election, but it’s a trend to watch.
Is America about to sneeze?
Economists have a saying: “When America sneezes, Australia catches a cold.” If that’s true, things are looking a little dicey.
Prices facing American consumers have already started to rise. Many products on Shien.com, for example, have doubled. Some have quadrupled.
As a result (well, not just as a result of Shien’s pricing), consumer sentiment has collapsed:
While inflation expectations have soared to historic levels:
At the same time as American economists, according to Bloomberg’s survey, have dropped their forecasts for GDP growth dramatically:
… on the back of tanking consumption growth:
… and rock-bottom export growth:
There’s a lot of uncertainty around these forecasts – who knows how the tariff drama will unfold eventually. However, uncertainty in itself is economically damaging – it makes it hard for firms to plan investment, households to plan for major purchases etc.
There’s some stiff headwinds heading Australia’s way.
Ladies, Stop Apologising
Finally, researchers at Stanford University have found that women are far more likely to apologise in the workplace than men. Participants in a study were given a ten-question test, and then given the opportunity to explain to their results to their hypothetical boss. Women were far more likely to be apologetic. Even when they got 8 out of 10 questions right, 50% of women still apologised!
Stop apologising for being a boss, ladies!
And that’s how the world looked through the eyes of an economist this week.
DB.