I need to know....

[am Bays]

Is @Dedja back because he's: on holidays, been sacked, is retired, has access to the Glenside wifi password from the nurses or has missed us....

[dedja]

None of your business.

[Spargo]

Is @Dedja back because he's: on holidays, been sacked, is retired, has access to the Glenside wifi password from the nurses or has missed us....

Bays are winning flags
#bandwagoner

[amber_fluid]

Is it normal to have to pay tradies 30-50% deposit for any work being carried out?
I haven’t had any work done on our house post Covid but prior to that I never paid deposits.
Fully paid once done.

[dedja]

I’ve been in Uranus for the last 8 years, so there’s a bit to catch up on.

Bays winning flags? LOL, pull the other one.

Next thing you’ll be telling me that the Queen is dead, or that the yanks voted in a clown as President.

Or that Dean Laidley is now a chick, and the world shut down for a couple of years due to a virus.

Come to think of it, where the faaaark has the West End brewery gone, and WTF are pronouns???

And why isn’t Warnie commentating anymore?

[Dutchy]

I’ve been in Uranus for the last 8 years, so there’s a bit to catch up on.

Bays winning flags? LOL, pull the other one.

Next thing you’ll be telling me that the Queen is dead, or that the yanks voted in a clown as President.

Or that Dean Laidley is now a chick, and the world shut down for a couple of years due to a virus.

Come to think of it, where the faaaark has the West End brewery gone, and WTF are pronouns???

And why isn’t Warnie commentating anymore?

Why isn't Port winning flags anymore?

[Dutchy]

Is it normal to have to pay tradies 30-50% deposit for any work being carried out?
I haven’t had any work done on our house post Covid but prior to that I never paid deposits.
Fully paid once done.

Yep, if there are supplies that they need to purchase 30% is usually norm, not sure about 50% tho

[heater31]

Is it normal to have to pay tradies 30-50% deposit for any work being carried out?
I haven’t had any work done on our house post Covid but prior to that I never paid deposits.
Fully paid once done.

Yep, if there are supplies that they need to purchase 30% is usually norm, not sure about 50% tho

Credit terms would be very tight at the moment.

FFS I'm trying to book a bricklayer right now. Mid Jan availability and the standard rate is $2 per brick!

I used to work for a major home builder and update the trades price list and they were not getting anywhere near that!

[Booney]

How does anyone find Jimmy "One trick pony" Rees funny?

[DOC]

The kids entertainer?

[stan]

How does anyone find Jimmy "One trick pony" Rees funny?

That's Jimmy Giggle from Giggle and hoot.

How dare you.

[Vamos]

How does anyone find Jimmy "One trick pony" Rees funny?

Just watched a few YT clips. Yep, he's going into my Lucy, Morris and Hughes category.

[The Dark Knight]

How does anyone find Jimmy "One trick pony" Rees funny?

I had a laugh at his Optus video today, what makes him a one trick pony in your eyes?

[Booney]

How does anyone find Jimmy "One trick pony" Rees funny?

I had a laugh at his Optus video today, what makes him a one trick pony in your eyes?

His shtick never changes, the flick back / forward to himself playing characters in one scene. Every time.

[MW]

Inflation and how it is calculated.

For instance, the cost of living is insane as we all know. Everything is up including all essentials (food, petrol, amenities, etc). I am assuming the fact that we all need to pay more for these essentials effectively drives up inflation, which in turn forces the RBA to increase interest rates because inflation is not under control?

People cannot stop spending on essentials unless they stop eating, have no power and don't drive their car...

So in my simple brain, unless the prices of these essentials drop, we are in an endless cycle of increased inflation and mortgage rates...

I can't be right on this (hopefully)

[Brodlach]

Are petrol prices any higher than 12 to 18 months ago?

They did dip for a bit when the government reduced the tax but I’m not sure they are any higher

[MW]

Is petrol prices any higher than 12 to 18 months ago?

They did dip for a bit when the government reduced the tax but I’m not sure they are any higher

not the peak cost no, but as a consistent price yes, it is.

[Wedgie]

Veggies are the lowest they've been for a long time and I just bought a pc for $1600 that would have cost me 5k a year ago.
TVs and other tech are going down ridiculously too.
The beer I buy for at home is cheaper than it was a year ago.
And with WFH I spend a shit load less on petrol/parking than I used to.
Medication I've been taking for 15 years is a lot cheaper than it used to be. (hit the net once in the early 2000s, but don't get close these days despite being on more)
Lot of things going down too.

[MW]

If I had just gone onto news.com.au this morning I would have answered my own question!
Sums it up perfectly...

https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/why-boomers-and-big-business-are-to-blame-for-australias-economic-woes/news-story/d6478109e7701ad4cef152f38956e6b7

[dedja]

My 2c so take with a large grain of salt.

It’s a flawed and outdated eco-system, and that article summarises some of the issues quite well.

The only very blunt instrument the Reserve Bank uses is interest rates, but it generally punishes the ones that are not causing the problem.

The way inflation is calculated is flawed when taken into the context of what influence interest rates has on those ‘basket of goods’. Also, this eco-system assumes that demand is always the issue so hiking interest rates will suppress demand, therefore reducing consumption and inflation, but the latest cycle of interest rate hikes have predominantly been driven by a lack of supply (the downstream effect of the Covid years together with the Russian invasion of Ukraine), so a totally inappropriate response.

For example, official interest rates have little to do with the pricing of fossil fuels (world supply and demand, politics, wars, etc do). If consumption decreases because people are struggling to fill the tank, then this will not help reduce the price of fuel, hence have no effect in reducing inflation (as fuel pricing is in the calculation of inflation).

The RBA is locked into a cycle of ‘let’s be seen to be doing something’ so keeps hiking rates, as if it will somehow fix the inflation issue.

It’s a difficult and complex issue, but the very simple and dumb set of tools the RBA uses isn’t the answer, and generally the low and middle class suffer exponentially more for something they didn’t cause or can fix by their consumption habits, whilst large businesses and those that are cashed up with little debt (for example retired baby boomers) keep spending regardless, which increases pressure on inflation.

It will sort itself out eventually, but it could occur without the unnecessary pain created by the RBA.

OK, I’m done.