The corporate defined benefit pension plan of the past is a rare beast in Australia these days. Most large employers have been winding these plans down for decades and there are not many left.
Continue readingAre HR departments necessary?
Ask Google to respond to that query and it returns, in short, Yes.
Any number of articles will appear as to why it is a good idea to have an HR department. Reasons against an HR department are fewer and harder to find. Until now.
Continue readingI’ve got another plan, this time it will work
Less than a fortnight after releasing his first plan, Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers has announced another plan.
Continue readingActuaries, doctors, demographers, politicians, drug approval agencies – are you curious about this?
It’s a bit odd, don’t you think? Australia vs World experience. Why would higher rates of covid19 vaccination in Australia coincide with higher rates of mortality? Curious.
Continue readingWhat’s in a name?
Shakespeare wrote some pithy lines in the 17th century about names. You’ll find those lines in Romeo and Juliet. In essence he contended that calling a rose something else would not make it smell any less sweet.
Continue readingWhy does the RBA target a medium term inflation rate of between 2% and 3% pa?
I’m investigating the origin of this target. I want to know the basis for its creation and on going maintenance. It is not clear to me why the target should not be 0%pa.
Continue readingAttention grabbing headlines
It is said that ‘Dog bites Man’ is not an effective newspaper headline but ‘Man bites Dog’ is. Well, I was reminded today of that, possibly apocryphal, tale from the inky dungeons of old style newspapers sub editors’ offices. ‘Australian Actuary finds himself agreeing with statements from the Greens and then the Labor party.’ Really?
Continue readingWhat a disgrace
twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1598273883357859842
This woman is an utter disgrace. What low levels the public officials in economics have fallen to in the west. It makes me ill to see how her incompetence her lies or both tarnish the reputation of economists more broadly.
Walls, windows, amplitudes and newspapers
The wall opposite my favourite corner chair, the chair in which I sit to read the morning newspaper, has one of those long windows in the shape of a letterbox. Shallow, but wide, it traverses the wall and provides a wide angle view of the eastern horizon. It is a rough measuring guide to the passing of the summer.
Continue readingSome observations on Australian inflation
I am not optimistic that we have seen the worst of inflation in Australia and I explain why in this post.
In recent days, the December 2022 quarter national statistics covering the money supply, producers’ prices and consumer prices have all been released. The data is worth reviewing for clues about what is yet to come.
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Australian Actuary 