I thought I might like to share this story about how the recent US recession looming is already having an impact on businesses here. A close friend of mine runs a very successful travel business which sees a huge surge in bookings every year this time round (given that the Europe / US summer is near)... this year has seen a very nasty drop which has forced him to cut staff in order to maintain a profit... We haven't even touched the tip of this US recession and I think it will hurt us in a much bigger way than most think... does anyone else feel the pinch yet or have similar stories to share?
This recession is already having an impact on us...
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Could that also be a symptom of the higher AUD?
It's not only the US holiday makers but also the European... and I believe the Euro is quite strong at the moment... but you do make a good point for the US, our dollar is soaring.
explod
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Of course. The trick is to reveerse the business and organise groups from Australia to visit the US. How about gambling trips to Vagas. (I'll go) It will be cheap to travel to the US soon so that is the action now.
Kauri
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I made a hairdressing appointment a week ago as it is usually impossible to get an appt. close to public holidays. Only a few weeks ago before Christmas, they were booked out solidly, so I expected it to be extremely busy agan. They have been there for a number of years, so today when I arrived at 9.30, it was surprising to find the shop with no other customers and the girls cleaning shelves. They believe it is due to the recent interest rate hikes, cost of fuel, etc, etc. If that is the real reason, the current econmic situation is biting quite hard...
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An Australian travel agent with outbound clientèle would be benefiting from a higher A$, so its clearly not a currency issue.
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I'm hearing quite a bit about lack of trades work in Victoria at the moment. I don't have any hard facts but there do seem to be rather a lot literally commuting to Tas for work so presumably there isn't much around in Vic.
Also I've heard that the hospitality industry in general isn't doing too well at the moment. Apart from when major events are on it's pretty quiet I'm told. Again I don't have any hard facts though.
One thing that I'm pretty certain of is that people are thinking about the economy rather a lot. Everywhere I go it's become pretty much casual conversation that the price of everything is going up etc.
Also I've heard that the hospitality industry in general isn't doing too well at the moment. Apart from when major events are on it's pretty quiet I'm told. Again I don't have any hard facts though.
One thing that I'm pretty certain of is that people are thinking about the economy rather a lot. Everywhere I go it's become pretty much casual conversation that the price of everything is going up etc.
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I agree this is having an effect on the Australian economy. With petrol rising and predictions of $3+ per litre it will be very hard to make ends meet in the future, if only wages double when the price of petrol does.
With the our dollar rising, wouldn't imports be cheaper... somewhat? (oil's imported
) And shouldn't our economy benefit from our exports?
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I agree this is having an effect on the Australian economy. With petrol rising and predictions of $3+ per litre it will be very hard to make ends meet in the future, if only wages double when the price of petrol does.
With the our dollar rising, wouldn't imports be cheaper... somewhat? (oil's imported
And shouldn't our economy benefit from our exports?
Check out the latest stats - whilst we are resource rich, we lack the infrastructure to ship the stuff and the drought has reduced our exports of other soft commods.... Our trade deficit is widening as we stock up on cheap T.V's and computers due to a high dollar.
Link here
wayneL
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Meanwhile, ever since Keating's "level playing field" nonsense, the economic irrationalists have systematically destroyed much of Australia's manufacturing base. UK has done the same.
The idea that an economy can be based on services will in time prove to be fallacious. Many "services" can be offshored much more quickly and easily than manufacturing and once the BRIC economies get up to speed in this regard, they will swallow us like a Giant Anaconda.
Economic hegemony has effectively been handed to China on a silver platter...and guess what? They will use it much more ruthlessly than the yanks ever did.
Sorry, went off on a bit of a rant there.
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Couldn't agree more. The service economy nonsense works nicely only until you do the math.
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I don't know if I just have an isolated view on the world but, I think our economies still in good shape....sure consumers have much debt, inflation has broken out and we are not really booming outside mining sector but we are going okay....unemployments at record lows....China is our Number 1 trading partner
This stock correction has been savage but I would not be surprised if the index will not beat previous highs in the next year......I don't really buy shares on the basis of optimistic view but while there is a storm in the sharemarket, I just don't see it in the 'real world' yet....corporate earnings are still rising well and commodities cycle has not turned nasty yet
This stock correction has been savage but I would not be surprised if the index will not beat previous highs in the next year......I don't really buy shares on the basis of optimistic view but while there is a storm in the sharemarket, I just don't see it in the 'real world' yet....corporate earnings are still rising well and commodities cycle has not turned nasty yet
