The Daily Blog Open Mic – 28th January 2022

1. Inflation is coming – Big time – around the world. Well, it’s already here – first splashes of the tsunami.
   The Nats are blaming the govt, but this really is a worldwide quake.

   https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/stop-dumb-stuff-luxon-critical-govts-wasteful-spending

   Here it is in Aus:
   https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/rising-inflation-is-about-to-change-the-economic-debate-20220126-p59rgi.html

   https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-25/australia-s-core-inflation-accelerates-above-rba-target-midpoint

   https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/australian-inflation-surges-q4-market-bays-rate-hikes-2457266

   https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/ominous-news-for-aussie-homeowners-as-interest-rate-rise-predicted-for-mid2022/news-story/e6f33f322fe6c559984e693b4dd4a827

   And worse reactions in the UK (separate links)

2. Auckland light rail good informative link.
   https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/460377/auckland-light-rail-tunnel-to-run-to-mt-roskill-before-following-sh20-to-the-airport

3. Some links to the rising inflation in the UK:

   https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/cornwall-food-banks-brace-steadily-6555064

   https://www.harrogate-news.co.uk/2022/01/24/york-researchers-call-for-urgent-change-to-help-low-income-families-facing-cost-of-living-crisis/

   https://westenglandbylines.co.uk/2022-the-year-of-a-cost-of-living-catastrophe/

   https://dailybusinessgroup.co.uk/2022/01/shortage-of-homes-pushes-rents-to-record-levels/

   https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/25-million-households-cant-pay-bills-cost-living-crisis-worsens/

   https://inews.co.uk/news/cost-of-living-crisis-nhs-worker-60-hour-week-credit-card-food-shopping-inflation-1419013

   https://socialistworker.co.uk/news/cost-of-living-crisis-hits-so-tories-attack-unemployed-people/

4. Some important!!! money stuff and finance stuff that I should be studying , and you?! Cash in NZ – it is most important to retain.

   https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/regulation-and-supervision/banks/consultations-and-policy-initiatives/active-policy-development/the-future-of-money-cash-system
   Consultation closes at 10am on 7 March 2022.

   https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/notes-and-coins/future-of-money/cash-system
   Future of Money – Cash System Redesign | Te Moni Anamata – He Whakahou i te Pūnaha Moni
   We are seeking your feedback on issues facing the cash system and policy options raised which are intended to achieve greater efficiency and resilience. You can give your feedback online for this issues paper by 10am, Monday, 7 March 2022.

   https://www.cashmatters.org/blog/cash-matters-in-new-zealand
   Follow up put your name down (see bottom of first page) –
   Stay up to date with Cash Matters.
   Join the Cash Matters community and we’ll keep you posted about the latest developments in cash happening around the globe.

   https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/news/2021/11/reserve-bank-outlines-options-for-cash-system-reform
   “Today’s issues paper, ‘Future of Money – Cash System Redesign (Te Moni Anamata – He Whakahou i te Pūnaha Moni)’, reinforces our commitment to keeping cash available for as long as it is needed. We’re wanting input to develop the right set of policies to ensure the cash system is resilient and efficient in the face of changes in use and availability,” says Assistant Governor Christian Hawkesby. “We hope the option set presented today prompts discussion and debate, and identifies gaps or refinements.”

   “Falling cash use for everyday needs and the retreat from cash services by banks and retailers threaten financial and social inclusion for some, and have the potential to undermine the important role cash provides under-pinning confidence in private money in bank accounts. We call this acting as a value anchor. In times of uncertainty, people seek the security of cash – knowing money can be withdrawn from bank accounts into cash provides confidence that money in bank accounts is safe too,” says Mr Hawkesby.

   The Reserve Bank’s consultation outlines a range of external drivers facing the cash system that will lead to significant resilience issues for the cash system if left unchecked. It sets out 16 possible policy responses that could help deliver a fit for purpose cash system and 8 policies that could operate as a coherent ‘bundle’ to appropriately shape incentives and address the Reserve Bank’s objectives.

   https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/monetary-policy/inflation-calculator

   https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/news/2022/01/reserve-bank-and-fma-finalise-fmi-regulatory-framework

   https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/reserveratio.asp

   https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/central-bank-digital-currencies-the-end-9675742/

5. Work? in the USA.
   https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220126-the-rise-of-the-anti-work-movement
   Jan.28/22 Brian O’Conior
   Chris, a US-basednIT professional, says he’s experienced terrible working conditions in his recent roles. He says two separate employers, one offering no sick pay and the other only a week’s worth of paid time off, forced him back to work despite illness. At other labour-intensive jobs, he says he’s ended up having to treat his own wounds.

   But it was a role in customer support that pushed him too far. His job, which paid less than $13 (£9.40) an hour, involved verifying whether peoples’ dependents qualified for health-care insurance. He says he would have been fired if he had given callers certain helpful information he was not authorised to disclose, like how much time they had to submit their paperwork.

   “There were people literally begging for their lives on the phone, and I couldn’t do anything about it,” he says. “That broke me to a point where I realised that absolutely nothing in this system is working… It’s the lack of empathy and human kindness. I’m not sure how that went missing.”

   Two years into the pandemic, employees across the globe are tired. Poor mental health and burnout are common, particularly among low-wage and essential workers. This prolonged period of uncertainty has made many re-examine the role their employers play in making matters worse; record numbers of workers are leaving jobs in search of better options…

   Chris helps moderate the r/antiwork subreddit, which currently has 1.7 million subscribers as of this writing (up from 100,000 before March 2020). “We have a steady growing membership of between 20,000 and 60,000 followers a week. We have a ton of growth and a tonne of engaged members. We get hundreds of posts and thousands of comments every single day,” adds Doreen Ford, another moderator.

   …As we head into 2022, Worklife is running our best, most insightful and most essential stories from 2021. When you’re done with this article, check out our full list of the year’s top stories.

6. Bernard Hickey is the man, definitely not a Rat.
   The scale of it is enormous. We’re talking a trillion dollars of wealth in less than two years landed in the hands of people who were already wealthy. At the same time as the government last Christmas refused to increase the benefits by $50 because they were worried that it would increase the government debt.”

   Cash loans given to people struggling financially by MSD should be forgiven, he says.

   “Forgiving that debt and frankly doing what the Welfare Expert Advisory Group
   said the government should do nearly three years ag . (Me !!!)
   https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018828257/the-cost-of-the-pandemic-the-financial-winners-and-losers

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