The exhortation above is not meant for my 'normal' readers (assuming some of you are normal) but for the politicians who face some big choices and decisions over the next few years. We have heard a lot over the last 20 years about the threat of automation to jobs (especially manual jobs). Now we have the
We all know that productivity growth has slowed over the last decade. There have been numerous shocks to the global economy and trading system - the biggest being the financial crisis and the COVID epidemic - and catalysts such as advancing technology have lost their impetus as dramatic change (in the technology) has slowed. Of
Politicians in the UK have been going on about 'growth' for some time now. All major political parties have 'growth on their agenda and claim that they are the party that can deliver this growth. Now you and I know that growth - in this context - is really a shorthand for productivity since
It is often said- probably because it is true - that small businesses are the bedrock of a healthy economy. Business leaders know this; even leaders of large businesses, for their businesses were small once. One assumes that political leaders also know this - for they are reminded of it regularly when discussing growth strategies. Yet politicians
I have worked extensively in other countries than my own (UK). I have learned many valuable lessons - but perhaps the most important is that local solutions (to productivity problems) MUST be informed by local factors, local priorities, local policies. Take agricultural productivity as an example. Generally agricultural productivity (in terms of yield per acre) is much lower than
I have the advantage and disadvantage of being old. I remember what I think were 'better times' (but all old people in most historic eras have felt the same. When I first worked in industry, unions were strong and fought well for what they saw as a fair share of the results of productivity gains
Times are tough for both commercial organisations and governments in terms of recruiting the labour needed for economic growth. Employment is high in most developed countries and there is a trend towards disengagement and ’quiet quitting’. This means that firms have to look further afield (than traditional labour markets) to find new staff. This ‘distance’ brings into
There is an old saying that poor leaders can be summed up with the phrase ‘Do As I Say, Not As I Do’ meaning that leaders who do not ‘walk the walk as well as ’talk the talk’ are not likely to be successful in the longer-term. Perhaps nowhere is this more true than in
Just imagine you were the CEO of Walmart several years ago. You can see that Amazon is starting to gain a foothold in markets beyond the books and music where it started. You know you have to have some kind of response, some preparation for when Amazon (or someone like Amazon) starts to intrude on
The Australian Productivity Commission has made some recommendations for a National Disability Insurance Scheme. The government is (probably) going to partially meet the funding requirements. This process is fairly typical. A government funded body makes recommendations to government who accept the recommendations in principle but fail to implement or fund them completely. I understand that