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Heated argument between economy passengers reignites plane etiquette debate

A 12-second clip of two passengers arguing on a plane has reignited the age-old debate of whether it is acceptable to recline your seat on a plane. The viral video which was originally posted on TikTok and then re-shared on X, has racked up over 8 million views since Thursday. In the video, a frustrated woman was calling out another female passenger for pushing her seat the entire flight, right after they landed. “The whole trip she pushed my seat,” the woman said to a male passenger seated next to the female passenger accused of kicking her seat. “You seen it. You know she did.” “I’m allowed to put my seat back," she yelled repeatedly. Ian Miles Cheong, the user who posted the video on X, defended the woman saying: “She’s allowed to put her seat back. You don’t get to kick it repeatedly just because you want more space.” A few were on the woman's side and praised her for standing up for herself. “You are allowed! Period! You want space in front of you instead of pushing the seat, buy a seat with extra space or get your a** to business class. Reclining was put there for a reason,” one person wrote. “She was patient enough to wait till flight landed," they added. “If the seat is reclinable, recline it,” another commented. "What she’s saying is right. The woman has a right to put her seat back without someone kicking it," a third agreed. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> She’s allowed to put her seat back. You don’t get to kick it repeatedly just because you want more space. <a href="https://t.co/WELD7Qh4Re">pic.twitter.com/WELD7Qh4Re</a> — Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) <a href="https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1719881310351863952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2023</a></blockquote> However, others claimed that there was an unwritten rule that you shouldn't recline your seat, especially on a short-haul flight, adding that the recline feature should be scrapped from airplanes. “Putting your seat back in coach is an unspoken thing most people don’t do. It’s really the airline’s fault because they’ve made coach so cramped and tight that putting the seat back shouldn’t even be an option,” one commented. “Airline seats simply shouldn’t be able to recline. It intrudes on the already very little space a person has on the plane for the person behind them,” another added. “Really it’s the airline’s fault for cramming so many people in such a small space. They don’t call it cattle class for nothing,” a third wrote. One user understood both sides of the argument, and blamed the airlines for making the seats so cramped. "It can be annoying sometimes to be behind someone with their seat all the way, but if the airlines didn't want to allow that, it wouldn't happen," they wrote. "You don't kick the seat like a baby. Blame the airline, not the person doing what the airline says is fine." Images: Twitter

Travel Trouble

“No justification for this ever”: Outrage over one husband’s selfish inflight arrangement

A couple in the United States have landed themselves at the centre of the internet’s attention after the wife made the shocking admission that her husband flies first class when they travel, leaving her behind in economy with their two children. Writing to The New York Times’ ethics column, she wanted to know if she was selfish for thinking their ‘arrangement’ was unfair, noting that while he had offered a compromise of sorts, it did “not really address or solve the problem of the inherent selfishness in his thinking.” As she explained in her message, she and her husband are avid travellers, and he “either pays for, or gets an upgrade into, the first-class cabin”. Even when they travel with their two children - who are 12 and 16 years old - he takes himself off to first class, while they remain in economy. According to her, he justifies it to himself by explaining that it’s “because of the cost”, and that their children “might feel alone” if she were to travel up front with him. “I feel that this is unfair,” she said. “ I don’t think our kids would mind if they were in economy plus and my husband and I sat together in first class. Is that unfair of me to want? “My husband has suggested travelling alone on a different flight ahead of us so that we don’t feel badly about the disparity, but this does not really address or solve the problem of the inherent selfishness in his thinking. Am I wrong?” Kwame Anthony Appiah, the ethicist who responded to her for The New York Times, was of the opinion that “a modern marriage is meant to be a pairing of equals”, with partners treating each other with respect and having equal say in the decision making process. “Your husband has another view,” he said. “He evidently thinks that because he’s the ticket-buyer in the family, his own preferences get priority.” And when the article was shared to social media, people from all over were quick to get in on the discussion, with most leaping to the defence of the wife. “I’d divorce him so fast he’d never get to fly first class again until our kids were grown and through college,” one said. “There is no justification for this ever.” “I'd be calling a divorce lawyer rather than a travel agent,” one agreed. “Wow. And you’re still married to him?! I’d recommend booking your own flights,” came a similar response. Meanwhile, another noted that she “just might be married to a narcissist.” “Oooph BIG YIKES. It’s not about the flight, I’m sure this imbalance trickles into other parts of the relationship,” someone wrote. And as another shared, “recently, my husband was offered the upgrade to first class but declined it because I couldn’t go too. We’ve been married 30 years.” Some, however, took issue with the idea of both parents lounging in first while their children were still left behind, with one noting “she wants to upgrade but still leave the kids in economy? The pair of them sound like terrible parents.” “Frankly, I’m blown away that this mother sees the disparity for herself,” another said, “but is perfectly comfortable experiencing privilege while treating her own children disparately.” Images: Getty

Travel Trouble

How zinc batteries could power the sustainable economy

What might it take to get zinc batteries offsetting some of the demand on lithium-ion? According to a <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.26599/NRE.2022.9120039" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">review</a> in Nano Research Energy, a few avenues of research look set to make rechargeable zinc batteries efficient and long-lasting enough to be competitive. If you want to store electricity, lithium-ion batteries are <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/physics/long-live-the-power-of-lithium/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">generally the most powerful</a> and <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/precious-metal/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">energy dense option</a>. But lithium isn’t a <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/materials/lithium-ion-battery-supply-chain-australia/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">super-abundant metal</a>, and it’s very reactive: lithium-ion batteries need <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/battery-fire-lithium-ion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">elaborate safety systems</a> to lower the risk of fires. As battery demand soars, to shore up the <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/energy-crisis-escape-transition/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">transition to renewable energy</a>, researchers are looking for alternatives to lithium. “Zinc has a strong battery track record, having been used as anode material as early as 1799!” says co-author Dapeng Liu, a battery researcher with the Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology at Beihang University, China. “Zinc-based battery technology already accounts for one-third of the world battery market.” Zinc can be used in a range of different types of battery – including <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/new-charge-for-old-battery/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">zinc-air batteries</a>, which are currently available as small disposables, rechargeable <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/flow-battery-china/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">flow batteries</a>, or rechargeable non-flow zinc-bromide batteries. Zinc-based batteries are typically cheaper than lithium-ion, and carry a much lower fire risk. But while their performance has much improved over the past decade, they’re still not good for commercial rechargeable batteries yet. They’re not very energy-dense, and they have shorter life cycles. According to the researchers, there are a few areas of chemistry that should be focused on to improve this. First, say the reviewers, the anodes and cathodes of zinc batteries need to be developed so that they don’t deplete as much over time. They think that changing the surface of the anodes (interface modification), and alloying the zinc with other materials and additives, will yield the best results. Next, better <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/next-big-thing-catalysts-can-change-the-world/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">catalysts</a> are needed to speed up zinc-air batteries’ reactions, making them more efficient. Finally, the researchers suggest that new electrolyte mixtures can improve battery performance. “Rechargeable zinc-based batteries have a long way to go before large-scale application in the mobile, power, and other electronic equipment markets,” conclude the researchers in their paper. A zinc-bromide battery factory opened in Australia in late September. Operated by <a href="https://gelion.com/gelion-launches-australian-battery-manufacturing-facility/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gelion</a>, a renewable energy company that spun out from research at the University of Sydney, the facility is currently capable of making two megawatt hours of batteries per year. <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=227531&title=How+zinc+batteries+could+power+the+sustainable+economy" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /> <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/zinc-batteries-improvements-needed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on Cosmos Magazine and was written by Ellen Phiddian. Image: Getty Images </div>

Technology

Fighting inflation doesn’t directly cause unemployment – but that’s still the most likely outcome

You may have seen the news: in its attempts to tackle inflation, the Reserve Bank is going to increase unemployment. The idea can even seem to come right from the mouths of experts, including the bank’s governor, Adrian Orr. <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/adrian-orr-beating-inflation-will-mean-higher-unemployment/WO3WLQQUGWEC5NVK3AQTR2BN5A/">Speaking recently</a> to an industry conference, he said: <blockquote> Returning to low inflation will, in the near term, constrain employment growth and lead to a rise in unemployment. </blockquote> Similar sentiments have been expressed by <a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/opinion/inflation-taming-the-costs-are-becoming-more-visible">independent economists</a> and <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/31-10-2022/the-big-banks-just-cant-stop-winning">commentators</a>. But is it as simple as it might appear? What is the relationship between inflation and unemployment, and is it inevitable that reducing one will lead to an increase in the other? <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Unemployment rate holds steady at 3.3%, wages rise strongly - Stats NZ <a href="https://t.co/IQOPBaNYTn">https://t.co/IQOPBaNYTn</a> — RNZ News (@rnz_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/rnz_news/status/1587568087808999424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2022</a></blockquote> Historic highs and lows Like other developed countries, New Zealand has been going through a period of historically high inflation. The latest figures, for the September quarter of 2022, show an annual <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/annual-inflation-at-7-2-percent/">rise of 7.2%</a>, only slightly lower than the 7.3% recorded for the June quarter. Inflation is the highest it has been since 1990. The story is similar across the OECD, where inflation averages <a href="https://www.oecd.org/economy/consumer-prices-oecd-updated-4-october-2022.htm">10.3%</a>, including <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/september2022">8.8%</a> in the UK and <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">8.2%</a> in the US. At the same time, New Zealand is experiencing a period of very low unemployment, with a <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/unemployment-rate-at-3-3-percent">rate of just 3.3%</a> for September 2022, following 3.2% in the June quarter. These are near-record lows, and the rate has not been below 4% since mid-2008. So, right now New Zealand is in a period of historically low unemployment and historically high inflation. At first glance, that might suggest that in order to return to low inflation, we may inevitably experience higher unemployment. The Phillips Curve The idea that inflation and unemployment have a negative relationship (when one increases, the other decreases, and vice versa) dates back to work by New Zealand’s most celebrated economist, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Phillips_(economist)">A.W. (Bill) Phillips</a>. While working at the London School of Economics in the 1950s, Phillips wrote a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1468-0335.1958.tb00003.x">famous paper</a> that used UK data from 1861 to 1957 and showed a negative relationship between unemployment and wage increases. Subsequent work by economics Nobel Prize winners <a href="https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Samuelson.html">Paul Samuelson</a> and <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1987/solow/facts/">Robert Solow</a> extended Phillips’ work to show a negative relationship between price inflation and unemployment. We now refer to this relationship as the “Phillips Curve”. However, even though this relationship between inflation and unemployment has been demonstrated with various data sources, and for various time periods for different countries, it is not a causal relationship. Lower inflation doesn’t by itself cause higher unemployment, even though they are related. To see why, it’s worth thinking about the mechanism that leads to the observed relationship. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LISTEN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LISTEN</a> 🔊 The Finance Minister says addressing inflation without increasing unemployment is a difficult balancing act. 📎 <a href="https://t.co/CfaopcqjGv">https://t.co/CfaopcqjGv</a> <a href="https://t.co/1gMNat2G99">pic.twitter.com/1gMNat2G99</a> — Morning Report (@NZMorningReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/NZMorningReport/status/1587893034351411200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2022</a></blockquote> Collateral damage If the Reserve Bank raises the official cash rate, commercial banks follow by raising their interest rates. That makes borrowing more expensive. Higher interest rates mean banks will lend less money. With less money chasing goods and services in the economy, inflation will start to fall. Of course, this is what the Reserve Bank wants when it raises the cash rate. Its <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/library-research-papers/research-papers/monetary-policy-and-the-policy-targets-agreement/">Policy Targets Agreement</a> with the government states that inflation must be kept between 1% and 3%. So when inflation is predicted to be higher, the bank acts to lower it. At the same time, higher interest rates increase mortgage payments, leaving households and consumers with less discretionary income, and so consumer spending falls. Along with reduced business spending, this reduces the amount of economic activity. Businesses therefore need fewer workers, and so employment falls. So, while the Reserve Bank raises interest rates to combat inflation, those higher interest rates also slow down the economy and increase unemployment. Higher unemployment is essentially collateral damage arising from reducing inflation. Great expectations That’s not the end of the story, though. After its 1960s heyday, the Phillips Curve was criticised by economists on theoretical grounds, and for its inability to explain the “stagflation” (high unemployment and high inflation) experienced in the 1970s. For example, <a href="https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Friedman.html">Milton Friedman</a> argued there is actually no trade-off between inflation and unemployment, because workers and businesses take inflation into account when negotiating employment contracts. Workers’ and employers’ expectations about future inflation is key. Friedman argued that, because inflation is expected, workers will have already built it into their wage demands, and businesses won’t change the amount of workers they employ. Friedman’s argument would suggest that, aside from some short-term deviations, the economy will typically snap back to a “natural” rate of unemployment, with an inflation rate that only reflects workers’ and businesses’ expectations. Symptom or cause? Can we rely on this mechanism to avoid higher unemployment as the Reserve Bank increases interest rates to combat inflation? It seems unlikely. Workers would first have to expect the Reserve Bank’s actions will lower inflation, and respond by asking for smaller wage increases. Right now, however, consumer inflation expectations <a href="https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/series/households/household-inflation-expectations">remain high</a> and wage growth is at <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/latest-job-numbers-out-unemployment-flatlining-near-record-lows/O4NDE3Y4W5GMHGDRDDS733LX7A/">record levels</a>. So, we can probably expect unemployment to move upwards as the Reserve Bank’s inflation battle continues. Not because lower inflation causes higher unemployment, but because worker and consumer expectations take time to reflect the likelihood of lower future inflation due to the Reserve Bank’s actions. And since workers negotiate only infrequently with employers, there is an inevitable lag between inflation expectations changing and this being reflected in wages. Alas, for ordinary households, there is no quick and easy way out of this situation. Writen by Michael P. Cameron. Republished with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/fighting-inflation-doesnt-directly-cause-unemployment-but-thats-still-the-most-likely-outcome-193617" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Image: Getty Images<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193617/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />

Money & Banking

“Kia Ora NZ!”: First cruise ship returns to New Zealand

After more than two years, the first cruise ship has returned to New Zealand’s shores, sailing into Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour on Friday. The P&O Cruises flagship Pacific Explorer, decked out with a banner reading, “Kia ora NZ”, was carrying passengers on a 12-night round-trip cruise from Sydney to New Zealand and Fiji, who were greeted with a traditional Māori welcome before heading ashore for locally-run tours. Multiple Kiwi businesses welcomed the return of cruising to New Zealand and hope it will bring a boost to the local economy and their business. David Lee, who owns five eateries in the shopping and hospitality precinct in Auckland City, said the return of cruising has brought him hope after the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc when he opened in March 2020. “Without tourists, it was really hard to keep our restaurants afloat,” he said in a statement. “Our projected revenue amounted to less than half of what it should have been - we hung on by the skin of our teeth. “The return of cruise ships and the tourists they bring has given me hope for our business. I can’t wait to see the city abuzz with tourists and energy again.” Clinton Farley, the general manager of The Hotel Britomart, a boutique hotel in downtown Auckland, said the return of tourists through cruising isn’t just welcome financially, but also from a community aspect. “Along with our industry peers, we are extremely excited to see the maritime border reopening and tourists returning – they are such an important part of the fabric within our community,” Mr Farley said. “Tourists are crucial not just to the hotel but also to the wider Britomart precinct and the New Zealand economy. The return of cruise is a big part of our reopening to the world, and we are thrilled to see downtown Auckland coming back to life.” P&O Cruises Australia and Carnival Australia president Marguerite Fitzgerald thanked the Ardern government for enabling the cruising industry to return following the pandemic, “Pacific Explorer’s arrival in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland today is a signal that cruise tourism is poised to make a significant contribution to the restoration of the tourism economy,” Ms Fitzgerald said. “We are looking forward to our ships also being able to return to beautiful destinations in New Caledonia and Vanuatu and to the progressive return to New Zealand ports of ships from our other cruise lines as the tourism sector continues to rebuild.” Ms Fitzgerald added that they were already planning for the Pacific Explorer to return to Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, in 2023 for the ship’s first home-ported cruise in three years. “This is an exciting day for P&O and an exciting day for cruising and we thank New Zealand for today’s warm welcome,” she said. Image: P&O Cruises (Supplied)

Cruising

A heated steering wheel for $20 a month? What’s driving the subscriptions economy

From gym memberships to music and movies, to razors, toilet paper, meal kits and clothes, there’s seemingly no place the subscription economy can’t go. Having conquered the software market – where it gets its own acronym, SaaS (Software as a Service) – the subscription model is now moving into hardware. Car makers are among the first cabs off the rank, using software to turn on and off optional extras. German auto maker BMW is offering “<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/12/23204950/bmw-subscriptions-microtransactions-heated-seats-feature" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in-car microtransactions</a>” to access options for car buyers in Britain, Korea, Germany, New Zealand and South Africa. A heated steering wheel, for example, has a monthly cost of NZ$20 in New Zealand, and £10 in the UK. Other markets <a href="https://www.drive.com.au/news/bmw-australia-monthly-subscriptions-detailed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">including Australia</a> will soon follow. In the UK, seven of 13 “digital services” – from heated seats to automatic high beam and driving assistance – are now available in subscription form. “Welcome to microtransaction hell” is how <a href="https://www.pcgamer.com/welcome-to-microtransaction-hell-buy-a-bmw-pay-monthly-for-the-cars-features/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one headline</a> put it. But that’s probably overselling the onset of a corporate dystopia where “you will own nothing”. BMW’s motives are pretty straightforward – as is most of what’s driving the subscription economy. What is the subscription model? The subscription model means paying a fee for periodical access to a service or product. Until a decade or so ago, it was largely confined to a few select industries, such as the delivery of milk, newspapers and magazines. <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474494/original/file-20220718-68552-hvzp5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="From milk and magazines, subscription services have proliferated with digital technology." /><figcaption>From milk and magazines, subscription services have proliferated with digital technology. Shutterstock</figcaption></figure> Other business models had similarities – such as rental businesses – but the point of the subscription model was different. It was not about meeting a demand for a service someone only wanted to use temporarily or could not afford to own outright. It was about locking in a continuing relationship, to maximise “customer lifetime value”. As <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/042715/how-do-subscription-business-models-work.asp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Investopedia puts it</a>, the subscription model’s focus is on customer retention over customer acquisition: <blockquote> In essence, subscription business models focus on the way revenue is made so that a single customer pays multiple payments for prolonged access to a good or service instead of a large upfront one-time price. </blockquote> This in large part explains why subscription services are now being adopted in markets outside their more obvious fit for things such as streaming news and entertainment. In a broad sense, consumers can now be divided into two groups. One group comprises the “transactional shopper”, who interacts with the vendor once or twice, then disappears. The other group comprises customers whose connection and “investment” in the brand is maintained through their subscriptions. <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474211/original/file-20220715-24-eopgdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="The subscriptions model emphasises customer retention over customer acquisition." /><figcaption>The subscriptions model emphasises customer retention over customer acquisition. Shutterstock</figcaption></figure> E-commerce and access Part of the growth in the subscription economy has come from companies riding the e-commerce wave, delivering goods such as meal kits, wine, coffee, baby supplies, pet food, cleaning products, razors and toilet paper. Consultant firm McKinsey has estimated the subscription e-commerce market is <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/thinking-inside-the-subscription-box-new-research-on-ecommerce-consumers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doubling in value</a> every year – though that was before the pandemic. It could be well be more now. The other part of the market is represented by BMW’s approach, offering extra features to customers that can only be accessed for a fee. In some cases this may involve standard “upsell” techniques. For example, when you buy a new Peloton exercise bike you’ll be enticed with <a href="https://www.onepeloton.com.au/membership" target="_blank" rel="noopener">subscription offers</a>, such as virtual classes and “customised” training programs, to “reach your goals”. Or increasingly, as with BMW’s heated seats and steering wheels, it can be done with software turning actual bits of hardware on or off. What is BMW’s game? Is BMW’s purpose to gouge its customers for more money through getting them to pay an ongoing fee for something instead of owning it outright? This is not what its subscription structure indicates. The opposite, in fact. Customers can still buy these options outright. A heated steering wheel in the UK, for example, costs <a href="https://www.bmw.co.uk/en/shop/ls/dp/Steering_Wheel_Heating_SFA_gb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">£200</a>, and in New Zealand <a href="https://www.bmw.co.nz/en/shop/ls/dp/Steering_Wheel_Heating_SFA_nz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NZ$350</a>. But now they can also pay a subscription – for three years (£150, NZ$250), annually (£100, NZ$250) or monthly (£10, NZ$20). These prices represent a strong signal – that the cost of outright ownership is the most economical. It’s unlikely BMW expects anyone to sign up for the annual or three-yearly options. These are probably just to make the outright cost look more attractive. The monthly offering, on the other hand, may lure owners to try out a feature they would otherwise have rejected buying outright at the time of purchase. Indeed, car makers argue the reason they offer so many options as extras is because most owners don’t want them. So this mostly looks like BMW offering a “try before you buy” option. The pitfalls of over-subscribing That said, companies don’t need to have sinister motives for us to have concerns about the spread of the subscription model. The more things we pay for with “micro-payments”, the harder it becomes to keep track of payments. Many of us continue to pay for products and services we don’t use. A survey of 1,000 Australian adults in 2021, for example, found about a third wasted money on unused subscriptions or memberships – losing an average of about <a href="https://www.savings.com.au/savings-accounts/unused-lockdown-subscriptions-are-costing-aussies-200-a-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A$200 a year</a>. Deep psychological associations can influence these decisions. Experiments by US marketing professors Jennifer Savary and Ravi Dhar suggests people with lower “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/46/5/887/5498871" target="_blank" rel="noopener">self-concept</a>” are less likely to sign up for subscriptions – but also less likely to cancel subscriptions they are not using. We may see the subscription model increasingly used in other sectors – including the health and justice systems. For example, a subscription payment may provide a better level of nutritious food for a resident in an aged care facility, or a hospital or even a prison. This is not dissimilar to the way private health insurance premiums are managed, but still presents important justice and equity concerns. So while there’s no reason to exaggerate the dangers of the subscription economy, it’s also prudent for consumers, advocacy groups and governments to ask “What next?”.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186913/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/louise-grimmer-212082" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Louise Grimmer</a>, Senior Lecturer in Retail Marketing and Associate Head Research Performance, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Tasmania</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-heated-steering-wheel-for-20-a-month-whats-driving-the-subscriptions-economy-186913" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Money & Banking

Healthy humans drive the economy: we’re now witnessing one of the worst public policy failures in Australia’s history

Australians are getting a stark reminder about how value is actually created in an economy, and how supply chains truly work. Ask chief executives where value comes from and they will credit their own smart decisions that inflate shareholder wealth. Ask logistics experts how supply chains work and they will wax eloquent about ports, terminals and trucks. Politicians, meanwhile, highlight nebulous intangibles like “investor confidence” – enhanced, presumably, by their own steady hands on the tiller. The reality of value-added production and supply is much more human than all of this. It is people who are the driving force behind production, distribution and supply. Labour – human beings getting out of bed and going to work, using their brains and brawn to produce actual goods and services – is the only thing that adds value to the “free gifts” we harvest from nature. It’s the only thing that puts food on supermarket shelves, cares for sick people and teaches our children. Even the technology used to enhance workers’ productivity – or sometimes even replace them – is ultimately the culmination of other human beings doing their jobs. The glorious complexity of the whole economy boils down to human beings, using raw materials extracted and tools built by other human beings, working to produce goods and services. <h2>A narrow, distorted economic lens</h2> The economy doesn’t work if people can’t work. So the first economic priority during a pandemic must be to keep people healthy enough to keep working, producing, delivering and buying. That some political and business leaders have, from the outset of COVID-19, consistently downplayed the economic costs of mass illness, reflects a narrow, distorted economic lens. We’re now seeing the result – one of the worst public policy failures in Australia’s history. The Omicron variant is tearing through Australia’s workforce, from <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nurses-are-in-despair-as-staffing-shortages-bite-in-nsw-hospitals-20220103-p59ljc.html?fbclid=IwAR3obDpqk7Muu2xpOA1H7MH2D2TuxPIzMQrL_NKk2QoKHA2LriWoRcmRO8o">health care</a> and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/hundreds-of-nsw-childcare-centres-shut-due-to-covid-20220104-p59ls4.html">child care</a>, to <a href="https://www.edenmagnet.com.au/story/7575635/knock-on-effects-through-supply-chain-despite-eased-covid-rules-for-workers/">agriculture</a> and <a href="https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9388733/omicron-has-now-put-us-in-a-desperate-situation-in-regards-to-workers-shortage-and-shipping-issues/">manufacturing</a>, to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-06/supermarket-shortage-supply-chain-truck-driver-covid/100741392">transportation and logistics</a>, to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/surf-lifesavers-and-students-fill-paramedic-shifts-as-omicron-spreads-20220108-p59mrq.html">emergency services</a>. The result is an unprecedented, and preventable, economic catastrophe. This catastrophe was visited upon us by leaders – NSW Premier Dom Perrotet and Prime Minister Scott Morrison in particular – on the grounds they were protecting the economy. Like a Mafia kingpin extorting money, this is the kind of “protection” that can kill you. <h2>Effect as bad as lockdowns</h2> On a typical day in normal times, between <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia/nov-2021/EM2b.xlsx">3% and 4% of employed Australians</a> miss work due to their own illness. Multiple reports from NSW indicate up to half of workers are now absent due to COVID: because they contracted it, were exposed to it, or must care for someone (like children barred from child care) because of it. With infections still spreading, this will get worse in the days ahead. Staffing shortages have left hospitals in chaos, supermarket shelves empty, supply chains paralysed. ANZ Bank data, for example, shows <a href="https://twitter.com/ANZ_Research/status/1479284711151345666?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet">economic activity in Sydney</a> has fallen to a level lower than the worst lockdowns. <hr /> Spending in Sydney and Melbourne now near lockdown conditions <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440169/original/file-20220111-17-1jp9jpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440169/original/file-20220111-17-1jp9jpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="ANZ Bank data shows spending in Sydney and Melbourne has fallen to levels typical of lockdown conditions." /></a> ANZ Research <hr /> If relaxing health restrictions in December (as Omicron was already spreading) was motivated by a desire to boost the economy, this is an own-goal for the history books. <h2>Relaxing isolation rules</h2> Now the response to Omicron ravaging labour supply is to relax isolation requirements for workers who have contracted, or been exposed to, COVID-19. The first step was to shift the goalposts on “test, trace, isolate and quarantine” arrangements by redefining “close contact”. On December 29 <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/press-conference-kirribilli-nsw-10">the Prime Minister said</a> it was important to move to a new definition “that enables Australia to keep moving, for people to get on with their lives”. The next day National Cabinet <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/national-cabinet-statement-12">approved a definition</a> such that only individuals having spent at least four hours indoors with a COVID-infected person needed to isolate. Australians certainly want supply chains to keep moving. That won’t happen by simply pretending someone with three hours and 59 minutes of face-to-face indoor contact with Omicron is safe. Putting asymptomatic but exposed and potentially infected people back to work will only accelerate the spread. The second step has been to reduce the isolation period for those who do pass this tougher “close contact” test. At its December 30 meeting National Cabinet agreed to a standard isolation period of seven days (ten days in South Australia), <a href="https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/gp-opinion/so-you-have-been-asked-to-self-isolate-or-quaranti">down from 14 days</a>. For “critical workers” in essential services including food logistics, the NSW and Queensland governments <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/isolation-rules-relaxed-for-critical-workers-as-nsw-battles-supply-chain-issues/news-story/2b97ef133f6c3caff9dcd5bc548cc58b">have gone even further</a>, allowing employers to call them back to work so long as they are asymptomatic. <h2>Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory</h2> This follows a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s1227-isolation-quarantine-guidance.html">US precedent</a>, despite <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMc2102507?articleTools=true">scientific evidence</a> indicating contagion commonly lasts longer than 5 days. Employers will use this change to pressure exposed and even sick workers to return to work, risking their own health, colleagues, customers, and inevitably spreading the virus further. Copying US COVID protocols only guarantees US-style infection rates. In fact, since 5 January, Australia’s seven-day rolling average infections per million <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2021-03-30..latest&facet=none&pickerSort=desc&pickerMetric=total_cases_per_million&hideControls=true&Metric=Confirmed+cases&Interval=7-day+rolling+average&Relative+to+Population=true&Color+by+test+positivity=false&country=USA%7EAUS">now exceed that of the US</a>. <hr /> <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440179/original/file-20220111-21-zzh3bj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440179/original/file-20220111-21-zzh3bj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people, Australia compared to United States." /></a> <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2021-03-30..latest&facet=none&pickerSort=desc&pickerMetric=total_cases_per_million&hideControls=true&Metric=Confirmed+cases&Interval=7-day+rolling+average&Relative+to+Population=true&Color+by+test+positivity=false&country=USA~AUS" class="source">Our Wold in Data</a>, <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" class="license">CC BY</a> <hr /> From one of the best COVID responses in the world to one of the worst, Australia has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. <h2>It’s not too late to limit the carnage</h2> The idea that health considerations <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/oct/07/its-an-economic-crisis-too-in-nsw-what-a-difference-a-new-premier-makes">had to be balanced with economic interests</a> was always a false dichotomy. A healthy economy requires healthy workers and healthy consumers. The Omicron surge has created an economic emergency that will be difficult to endure. But it’s not too late to limit further avoidable contagion. Infection prevention practices (including masks, capacity limits, prohibitions on group indoor activities, PPE and distancing in workplaces, and free and accessible rapid tests) must be restored and enforced. Income supports for workers who stay home must be restored. Staffing strategies need to emphasise steady, secure jobs, rather than outsourcing and gig arrangements which have facilitated contagion. Above all, our policy makers need to remember the economy is composed of human beings, and refocus their attention on keeping people healthy. Protecting people is the only thing that can protect the economy.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174606/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jim-stanford-521684">Jim Stanford</a>, Economist and Director, Centre for Future Work, Australia Institute; Honorary Professor of Political Economy, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/healthy-humans-drive-the-economy-were-now-witnessing-one-of-the-worst-public-policy-failures-in-australias-history-174606">original article</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Retirement Income

World economy in 2022: the big factors to watch closely

Will 2022 be the year where the world economy recovers from the pandemic? That’s the big question on everyone’s lips as the festive break comes to an end. One complicating factor is that most of the latest major forecasts were published in the weeks before the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.who.int/news/item/26-11-2021-classification-of-omicron-(b.1.1.529)-sars-cov-2-variant-of-concern" target="_blank">omicron variant</a> swept the world. At that time, the mood was that recovery was indeed around the corner, with the IMF projecting <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2021/10/12/world-economic-outlook-october-2021" target="_blank">4.9% growth</a> in 2022 and the OECD <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.oecd.org/newsroom/oecd-economic-outlook-sees-recovery-continuing-but-warns-of-growing-imbalances-and-risks.htm" target="_blank">projecting 4.5%</a>. These numbers are lower than the circa 5% to 6% global growth expected to have been achieved in 2021, but that represents the inevitable rebound from reopening after the pandemic lows of 2020. So what difference will omicron make to the state of the economy? We already know that it had an effect in the run-up to Christmas, with for example <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2021/dec/23/omicron-hits-uk-economy-growth-car-production-market-optimism-energy-crisis-business-live?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-61c46e4c8f08efd5f0de270a#block-61c46e4c8f08efd5f0de270a" target="_blank">UK hospitality</a> taking a hit as people stayed away from restaurants. For the coming months, the combination of raised restrictions, cautious consumers and people taking time off sick is likely to take its toll. Yet the fact that the new variant seems milder than originally feared is likely to mean that restrictions are lifted more quickly and that the economic effect is more moderate than it might have been. <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-admit-some-foreigners-with-presumed-covid-immunity-jan-9-2022-01-03/" target="_blank">Israel</a> and <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/1/3/australia-pushes-on-with-reopening-amid-milder-impact-of-omicron" target="_blank">Australia</a>, for example, are already loosening restrictions despite high case numbers. At the same time, however, until the west tackles very low <a rel="noopener" href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations?country=OWID_WRL" target="_blank">vaccination rates</a> in some parts of the world, don’t be surprised if another new variant brings further damage to both public health and the world economy. As things stand, the UK thinktank the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) published a more recent <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-26/world-economy-now-set-to-surpass-100-trillion-in-2022" target="_blank">2022 forecast</a> just before Christmas. It predicted that global growth would reach 4% this year, and that the total world economy would hit a new all-time high of US$100 trillion (£74 trillion). The inflation question One other big unknown is inflation. In 2021 we saw a sudden and sharp surge in inflation resulting from the restoration of global economic activity and bottlenecks in the <a rel="noopener" href="https://obr.uk/box/the-economic-effects-of-supply-bottlenecks/" target="_blank">global supply chain</a>. There has been <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/inflation-why-its-temporary-and-raising-interest-rates-will-do-more-harm-than-good-172329" target="_blank">much debate</a> about whether this inflation will prove temporary, and central banks have been coming under pressure to ensure it doesn’t spiral. So far, the European Central Bank, Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan have all abstained from raising interest rates from their very low levels. The Bank of England, on the other hand, followed the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.ft.com/content/ca15ce59-ca72-497c-bf7a-c1482d972f01" target="_blank">IMF’s advice</a> and <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy-summary-and-minutes/2021/december-2021" target="_blank">raised rates</a> from 0.1% to 0.25% in December. This is too little to curb inflation or do any good besides increase the cost of borrowing for firms and to raise <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59140059" target="_blank">mortgage payments</a> for households. That said, the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/sterling-nears-2-year-high-vs-euro-rate-rise-bets-2022-01-04/" target="_blank">markets are betting</a> that more UK rate rises will follow, and that <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/03/markets-and-the-economy-brace-as-the-feds-first-hike-could-come-in-two-months.html" target="_blank">the Fed</a> will also start raising rates in the spring. Yet the more important question regarding inflation is what happens to quantitative easing (QE). This is the policy of increasing the money supply that has seen the major central banks <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/global-qe-tracker/" target="_blank">buying some</a> US$25 trillion in government bonds and other financial assets in recent years, including about US$9 trillion on the back of COVID. Both the Fed and ECB are still operating QE and adding assets to their balance sheets every month. The Fed is <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/fed-tapering?r=US&IR=T" target="_blank">currently tapering</a> the rate of these purchases with a view to stopping them in March, having recently announced that it would bring forward the end date from June. <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.ft.com/content/03a30484-b265-4a88-a861-de1784305d40" target="_blank">The ECB</a> has also said it will scale back QE, but is committed to continuing for the time being. Of course, the real question is what these central banks do in practice. Ending QE and raising interest rates will undoubtedly hamper the recovery – the <a rel="noopener" href="https://cebr.com/reports/city-am-uk-to-remain-one-of-the-top-six-global-economies-post-covid-says-cebr-report/" target="_blank">CEBR forecast</a>, for example, assumes that it will see bond, stock and property markets falling by 10% to 25% in 2022. It will be interesting to see whether the prospect of such upheaval forces the Fed and Bank of England to get more dovish again – particularly when you factor in the continued uncertainty around COVID. Politics and global trade The trade war between the US and China looks likely to continue in 2022. The “<a rel="noopener" href="https://www.piie.com/research/piie-charts/us-china-phase-one-tracker-chinas-purchases-us-goods" target="_blank">phase 1</a>” deal between the two nations, in which China had agreed to increase its purchases of certain US goods and services by a combined US$200 billion over 2020 and 2021 has missed its target <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.piie.com/research/piie-charts/us-china-phase-one-tracker-chinas-purchases-us-goods" target="_blank">by about 40%</a> (as at the end of November). The deal has now expired, and the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202201/1243977.shtml" target="_blank">big question</a> for international trade in 2022 is whether there will be a <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.ced.org/solutions-briefs/the-china-trade-challenge-phase-ii" target="_blank">new “phase 2” deal</a>. It is hard to feel particularly optimistic here: Donald Trump may have long since left office, but US strategy on China remains <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/biden-losing-china-strategy-protectionism-industrial-policy-by-anne-o-krueger-2021-09?utm_source=Project%20Syndicate%20Newsletter&utm_campaign=bf7c015f95-sunday_newsletter_12_26_2021&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_73bad5b7d8-bf7c015f95-105568073&mc_cid=bf7c015f95&mc_eid=14a09c8529&barrier=accesspaylog" target="_blank">distinctly Trumpian</a>, with no notable concessions having been offered to the Chinese under Joe Biden. Elsewhere, western tensions with Russia over Ukraine and further escalation of economic sanctions against Putin may have economic consequences for the global economy – not least because of Europe’s dependency on Russian gas. The more engagement that we see on both fronts in the coming months, the better it will be for growth. Whatever happens politically, it is clear that Asia will be very important for growth prospects in 2022. Major economies such as <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-22/u-k-economy-closer-to-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-3q-downgrade?sref=Hjm5biAW" target="_blank">the UK</a>, <a rel="noopener" href="https://tradingeconomics.com/japan/gdp" target="_blank">Japan</a> and the <a rel="noopener" href="https://tradingeconomics.com/euro-area/gdp" target="_blank">eurozone</a> were all still smaller than before the pandemic as recently as the third quarter of 2021, the latest data available. The only major developed economy that has already recovered its losses and regained its pre-COVID size is <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2021/12/08/a-most-unusual-recovery-how-the-us-rebound-from-covid-differs-from-rest-of-g7/" target="_blank">the United States</a>. Economic growth by country since 2015 <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439333/original/file-20220104-18500-zchaq3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439333/original/file-20220104-18500-zchaq3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> OECD data On the other hand, China has <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/china/" target="_blank">managed the pandemic</a> well – albeit with strict control measures – and its economy has achieved strong growth since the second quarter of 2020. It has been <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/chinas-problem-with-property-the-domino-effect-of-evergrandes-huge-debts-168601" target="_blank">struggling with</a> a heavily over-indebted property market, but appears to have handled these problems <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-evergrande-says-construction-has-resumed-at-vast-majority-of-its-projects-11640602229" target="_blank">relatively smoothly</a>. Though the jury is out on the extent to which <a rel="noopener" href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/15/economy/china-omicron-economy-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">China’s debt problems</a> will be a drag in 2022, some such as Morgan Stanley <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/03/morgan-stanley-on-chinas-gdp-economy-in-2022.html" target="_blank">argue that</a> strong exports, accommodative monetary and fiscal policies, relief for real estate sector and a slightly more relaxed approach to carbon reduction point to a decent performance. As for India, whose economy has seen double dips during the pandemic, it is showing a strong positive trend with <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2021/10/12/world-economic-outlook-october-2021" target="_blank">8.5% expected growth</a> in the year ahead. I therefore suspect that emerging Asia will shoulder global growth in 2022, and the world’s <a rel="noopener" href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1758-5899.2010.00066.x" target="_blank">economic centre of gravity</a> will continue to shift eastwards at an accelerated pace.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174350/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/muhammad-ali-nasir-1244347" target="_blank">Muhammad Ali Nasir</a>, Associate Professor in Economics and Finance, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-huddersfield-1226" target="_blank">University of Huddersfield</a> This article is republished from <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/world-economy-in-2022-the-big-factors-to-watch-closely-174350" target="_blank">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Money & Banking

How to make roads with recycled waste, and pave the way to a circular economy

It cost <a href="https://www.buildingfortomorrow.wa.gov.au/projects/russell-road-to-roe-highway/">A$49 million</a> to add 12.5 kilometres of extra lanes to Western Australia’s Kwinana Highway, south of Perth’s CBD. That’s not unusual. On average, building a single lane of road costs about about <a href="https://www.bitre.gov.au/sites/default/files/rr148.pdf">A$5 million per kilometre</a>. What is unusual about this stretch of extra freeway is not the money but the materials beneath the bitumen: two stabilising layers comprised of <a href="https://www.wasteauthority.wa.gov.au/images/resources/files/2021/06/RtR_Pilot_Report.pdf.pdf">25,000 tonnes of crushed recycled concrete</a>, about 90% of which came from the demolition of Subiaco Oval (once Perth’s premier football ground). <iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jiFwKw3NTkk?wmode=transparent&start=75" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> Recycling building and construction materials remains the exception to the rule in Australia. The<a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/national-waste-policy-action-plan-2019.pdf"> National Waste Policy</a> agreed to by federal, state and territory governments has a target of 80% resource recovery by 2030. It’s currently <a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/sustainable-procurement-guide.pdf">about 40%</a>. Of the 74 million tonnes of waste <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/5a160ae2-d3a9-480e-9344-4eac42ef9001/files/national-waste-report-2020.pdf">generated in Australia in 2020</a>, masonry materials comprised about 22.9 million tonnes. Plastics, by comparison, comprised about 2.5 million tonnes. Of the 61.5 million tonnes of “core waste” managed by the waste and resource recovery sector, 44% (27 million tonnes) came from the construction and demolition sector, compared with 20% (12.6 million tonnes) from households and local government activities. Most of this waste – concrete, brick, steel, timber, asphalt and plasterboard or cement sheeting – could be reused or recycled. It ends up in landfill due to simple economics. It’s cheaper to buy new materials and throw them away rather than reuse and recycle. Changing this equation and moving to a circular economy, in which materials are reused and recycled rather than discarded in landfill, is a key goal to reduce the impact of building and construction on the environment, including its contribution to climate change. <h2>The economics of ‘externalities’</h2> The fact it is more “economic” to throw materials away than reuse them is what economists call a market failure, driven by the problem of “externalities”. That is, the social and environmental costs of producing, consuming and throwing away materials is not reflected in the prices charged. Those costs are instead externalised – borne by others. In such cases there is a legitimate – and necessary – role for governments to intervene and correct the market failure. For an externality such as carbon emissions (imposing costs on future generations) the market-based solution favoured by most economists is a carbon price. For construction material waste, governments have a few more policy levers to help create a viable market for more recycling. <h2>Using procurement policies</h2> One way to make recycling more attractive to businesses would be to increase the cost of sending waste materials to landfill. But this would likely have unintended consequences, such as illegal dumping. The more obvious and effective approach is to help create more demand for recycled materials through government procurement, adopting policies that require suppliers to, for example, use a minimum amount of recycled materials. With enough demand, recyclers will invest in further waste recovery, reducing the costs. Lower costs in turn create the possibility of greater demand, creating a virtuous circle that leads to a circular economy. <hr /> <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432794/original/file-20211119-17-19fvngo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432794/original/file-20211119-17-19fvngo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Diagram of the circular economy" /></a> <a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/sustainable-procurement-guide.pdf" class="source">Australian Government, Sustainable Procurement Guide: A practical guide for Commonwealth entities, 2021</a> Australia’s federal, state and territory governments all have sustainable procurement policies. The federal <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/856a1de0-4856-4408-a863-6ad5f6942887/files/sustainable-procurement-guide.pdf">Sustainable Procurement Guide</a> states the Australian government “is committed to transforming Australia’s waste into a resource, where most goods and services can be continually used, reused, recycled and reprocessed as part of a circular economy”. But these policies lack some basic elements. <h2>Three key market-making reforms</h2> Our research suggests three important reforms could make a big difference to waste market operations. This is based on interviewing 27 stakeholders from the private sector and government about how to improve sustainable procurement. First, government waste policies that set aspirational goals are not supported by procurement policies setting mandatory minimum recycled content targets. All contractors on government-funded construction projects should be required to use a percentage of recycled waste materials. Second, the nature of salvaging construction materials means quality can vary significantly. Cement recycled from a demolition site, for example, could contain contaminants that reduce its durability. Governments can help the market through regularly auditing the quality of recycler’s processes, to increase buyer confidence and motivate suppliers to invest in production technologies. Third, in some states (such as Western Australia) the testing regimes for recycled construction products are more complex than that what applies to raw materials. More reasonable specifications would reduce compliance costs and thereby the cost of using recycled materials.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164997/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/salman-shooshtarian-693412">Salman Shooshtarian</a>, Research Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/savindi-caldera-1187623">Savindi Caldera</a>, Research Fellow and Project Development Manager, Cities Research Institute, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tayyab-maqsood-711277">Tayyab Maqsood</a>, Associate Dean and Head of of Project Management, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tim-ryley-1253269">Tim Ryley</a>, Professor and Head of Griffith Aviation, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-make-roads-with-recycled-waste-and-pave-the-way-to-a-circular-economy-164997">original article</a>. Image: Main Roads Western Australia

Home Hints & Tips

The do’s and don’ts of the share economy

Selling in the sharing economy seems efficient. You have a spare room you aren’t using, rent it on Airbnb. You have spare time and a car, drive for Uber. You have mad Ikea skills, sell them on Airtasker. Work in the sharing economy can be a major income earner or a cash booster. Whether it's your primary income or you're testing the waters, there are a few dos and don’ts to maintain financial security in the sharing economy. The dos 1. Contribute to superannuation Everyone earning income needs to be paying into superannuation. This is the most tax effective investment you can make in your future. Missing a few years of super payments because you were travelling and covering costs with small gigs will set you back. Even putting a little bit away helps. 2. Get insurance Maintain your income protection insurance to protect against sickness or injury, trauma and TPD insurances. This is more important with the latest legislation change. You might also need professional indemnity and public liability insurance. Professional indemnity protects you if clients claim your service has caused them a loss. Public liability protects you if you injure a customer or damage their property. Check you are covered for general insurances – home, contents, car if you are using them for a side hustle. 3. Research tax requirements, benefits and government regulations Governments are constantly catching-up to the sharing economy. Regulations and tax laws update frequently. Surprise tax bills are nobody’s friend, so keep on top of this. If you’re using your home, car or other assets you have opened up a new world of tax deductions. It’s worth your time to look into this. If this is an undeclared income you can’t claim deductions, but declaring a second-job might mean more tax deductions for things you previously couldn’t claim. Weigh up the options. The don'ts 1. Don't underestimate the lifestyle costs of this work. Consider how this will impact your life. Is it going to be profitable enough to justify the distraction? Could it impact your primary income? What are the actual costs, like cleaning and wear and tear? Would the time and energy spent on this be better spent on a second job or seeking a promotion? Often, we think we can do it all, but everything has a cost. Be honest with yourself about how you want to live. 2. Don't sacrifice your personal finances Know your limits and how much you want to invest to make it work. You’re effectively starting a new business. In the initial set up you will invest your own money. After that draw a clear line between business and personal finances. Think about whether you run the business in your own name, as a trust or as a company. This decision could determine whether you are personally liable for any debts. Understand your finances: what’s coming in, what’s going out, what you owe and what others owe you. This will help you avoid costly mistakes. 3. Don't go in without an exit plan. Regulations change or you might hate it. You need an exit strategy that minimises financial losses. Think about this at the start, before you’ve invested. It may change how you do the initial set up. And if you’re relying on this income, then you’ll also need a back-up plan if you’re not earning it anymore. I have clients who have been earning income for years through the share economy. If planned and structured well it can make a real change to your financial situation. But flying in without considering costs, or personal security, could be dangerous. Take the time to think about your options. Time researching and planning is always a good investment. Helen Baker is a licenced Australian financial adviser and author of two books: On Your Own Two Feet – Steady Steps to Women’s Financial Independence and On Your Own Two Feet Divorce – Your Survive and Thrive Financial Guide. Proceeds from the books’ sales are donated to charities supporting disadvantaged women. Helen is among the 1% of financial planners who holds a master’s degree in the field. Find out more at <a href="http://www.onyourowntwofeet.com.au">www.onyourowntwofeet.com.au</a> Note this is general advice only and you should seek advice specific to your circumstances.

Retirement Income

End of economy perk we all took for granted

Passengers were less than impressed on their final 90-minute slog of the 22 hour long flight from London to Sydney. As many were looking forward to a hot breakfast, they were greeted with a sad little sandwich. This could soon be the new norm in economy long-haul flights. However, an aviation analyst has explained that as long-haul flights become the norm, hot breakfasts in economy could be a thing of the past. “It could be the end of the hot breakfast in economy,” one aviation analyst told <a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/flights/lufthansa-signals-end-to-economy-class-perk-we-all-took-for-granted/news-story/6804d7726aff3584156602e7d8a87d6c">news.com.au</a>. It seems like airlines could be following in the footsteps of the German giant airline Lufthansa, who let it slip that they were ditching their second hot meal on all flights of more than 10 hours in length. However, the airline didn’t put out a press release on the matter but it was picked up by airline blogs. “Over the past few months, we have carried out over 80 flights with various test scenarios. Thus, it was possible for us to establish a modern service according to current customer wishes thanks to feedback from our customers,” Lufthansa’s Asia-Pacific Head of Communications Klaus Pokorny told <a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/flights/lufthansa-signals-end-to-economy-class-perk-we-all-took-for-granted/news-story/6804d7726aff3584156602e7d8a87d6c">news.com.au</a>. “Many customers like the possibility of either enjoying this second meal immediately or packing it for the rest of their journey,” Pokorny explained. However, Qantas has insisted that they’re not following suit, although an aviation expert warns that others airlines might be tempted to follow the trend. “The price point for most people is the economy fare and so we now have these low fares airlines that aren’t actually low cost airlines,” the aviation consultant explained. “People will buy bundles off a base fare, like having a hot breakfast, and the airlines will end up with more revenue. “It’s the way of the future. It could be the end of the (included) hot breakfast in economy.”

Travel Trouble

Pay peanuts for business class quality: New economy travel option a game-changer for long-haul flights

A mum travelling with her two young children and her partner has shocked other travellers by bringing their attention to an economy upgrade available on Air New Zealand flights. It’s known as the “SkyCouch” and will leave you forgetting all about the temptation of travelling in business or first class. Melbourne mum Adele Barbaro posted about the economy upgrade on Facebook, where it garnered more than 23,000 comments with curious travellers asking about the experience. “We got to experience the Air New Zealand Skycouch on our way here and for those that don’t know what it is, it is a unique economy option where your entire row becomes a bed,” Adele wrote alongside images of herself and her family using the pullout bed. “If there is 2 of you travelling, you can purchase a third seat at half price and you will get the entire row to yourself. “The legs rest all rise to meet the chair in front and create a completely flat, large play or sleep area. “Paul and Harvey had a bed and so did Chloe and I. It’s the next best thing to business (but way cheaper) and perfect for long haul flights with young families. And we all slept.” <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FTheRealMumma%2Fposts%2F893564864353449&width=500" width="500" height="789" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe> The upgrade allows a row of seats to be turned into a couch or a bed after take-off. This means that you’re able to take advantage of the entire row and can use it to lounge or rest on your flight. Passengers are able to purchase the flight add-on from $200 each way (based on a Sydney to Los Angeles flight) when three people have booked the seat row. There’s not a separate price for SkyCouch, as Air New Zealand charges for one economy seat plus the additional fee. However, it will cost you more if you’re travelling alone as you’re reserving the whole row. Many parents have praised the economy upgrade. “Best thing we did was get the sky couch for our holiday kids slept 7 out of 14 hour flight that’s a win for me,” one person wrote. “Skycouch was amazing on our recent trip to USA,” another added. “I wish every airline would allow this.”

Travel Tips

5 reasons premium economy is worth it

There are few purchases in the travel industry that are as hotly debated as a premium economy airfare. Some travellers swear by it and wouldn’t consider taking any type of trip without that extra added bit of leg room. Others take a dimmer view, arguing the extra costs aren’t quite justified by the perks you receive onboard. Instead of spending hours umming and ahing, we’ve decided to outline five reasons that we think premium economy is worth it. To see them all, scroll through the gallery above. What are your thoughts? Do you think premium economy is worth the added expense? Let us know in the comments section below, we’d love to hear your thoughts.

Travel Tips

How to get an empty seat next to you on your next flight

For those of us who will only ever be able to daydream about flying business or first-class, having a spare seat next to you on a long-haul flight is the next best thing. And while this essentially may be a random occurrence (if you’re not willing to spring for tickets to the two seats on either side of you) there are some measures you can take to increase the likelihood of having the whole row to yourself. Research from comparison site <a href="https://www.finder.com.au/" target="_blank">Finder.com.au</a>, suggests booking outside the peak periods is your best bet. The data found passenger loadings for aircraft departing Australia are at their lowest in October and highest in December. So, booking in October increases the likelihood of a spare seat. Further research from <a href="https://www.finder.com.au/" target="_blank">Finder.com.au</a> suggests your airline choice might also be a determining factor. For example, Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways filled 91 per cent of seats last year, while Qantas filled 79.9 per cent in comparison. So, when it comes to having an extra bit of space on your flight, it might all come down to flight time and airline choice. Do you think you will take this advice?

Travel Tips

Popular airline ditches reclining seats

The prospect of a flight without being able to recline your seat would seem unbearable for some, but passengers flying with a popular airline will have to get used to the idea after it announced it would be ditching reclining seats. British Airways officially announced it would be fitting non-reclining seats on 35 planes set to fly economy on short haul routes, to help slash ticket prices for customers. The changes, which are said to have been spearheaded by the airline’s chief executive Alex Cruz who formally worked for Spain’s low-cost carrier Vueling, received a mixed reception from passengers and could risk the airline’s elite status. A British Airways spokesman said: “As well as new long-haul aircraft, we have 35 brand new short-haul planes arriving over the next five years. “We are installing at-seat power throughout the aircraft and will soon offer on-board Wi-Fi. “The new aircraft will have brand new seats set to a gentle recline to ensure everyone in the cabin enjoys a comfortable journey. “These changes will also allow us to offer more low fares to customers.” What are your thoughts? Would you be willing to purchase less-comfortable seats for an international flight, if it meant you’d be getting cheaper airfares? <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/travel-insurance/?utm_source=over60&utm_campaign=travel-insurance&utm_medium=in-article-banner&utm_content=travel-insurance" target="_blank"><img src="http://media.oversixty.com.au/images/banners/Travel-Insurance_Website_GIF_468x602.gif" alt="Over60 Travel Insurance"/></a>

International Travel

5 reasons why flying economy isn’t so bad

It must be one of the most commonly heard travel complaints: the misery of flying economy class. In countless travellers' tales, the meals are awful, they are seated next to a sumo wrestler, and it's remarkably cramped because they're 201 centimetres. Many people moan about this experience, which possibly seems worse because, on many jumbos, economy travellers have to walk through the elite sections of the plane. Of course, this torture is deliberate, to convince you to pay for an upgrade on your next flight. As a rule, a business class ticket costs three or four times an economy-class fare, while a first-class ticket can cost 15 times as much. As someone who has flown in most classes, I can think of several reasons that business class - let's not even discuss that elusive, pricey first-class cabin - isn't worth the hype. Here are five good reasons to fly economy, if only to cheer up the great majority who don't have a choice. 1. Better company As Rose Byrne's character said in the movie Bridesmaids: "There's much more of a sense of community in coach [economy class]". Admittedly, she says it from the comfort of a business-class seat. Indeed, she's the kind of wealthy, pampered socialite who would never dream of flying economy. Nonetheless, she had a point. Partly because business-class seats are geared for corporate travellers (as the name suggests) and partly because the seats are more intimately spaced, you are far more likely to make friends with your fellow passengers in economy. If you want some privacy, slip on the headphones. But if you want to enjoy the (frankly underrated) social aspect of flying, economy is the way. Even for business networking, economy is the class. "In 30 years in international business, I have yet to meet anyone personally or professionally interesting in first class," Jean Hoffman, president and chief executive of Putney, told Inc magazine last year. "However, nearly every time I fly economy on a miserable, long flight, I am seated with someone who proves to be an interesting person and from whom I can learn something. Inspiration does not come in first class or from a consultant with an MBA." You think economy class people can occasionally get on your nerves? The truly obnoxious people are at the pointy end of the plane. First and business classes are the natural habitats of corporate types, politicians, and cosseted people who pull out their credit cards to pay a few thousand extra dollars because they can't bear going "cattle class" like everyone else. International rock stars rarely travel in economy. At the height of their fame in 1998, the English band Oasis was banned from Cathay Pacific for drunkenly abusing other passengers and making complete prats of themselves on a flight to Perth. You can safely bet they weren't in economy. If you expect a more rarefied atmosphere in business class, you might be disappointed. Based on my experience, you are more likely to be hassled by annoying children in business class. "The truly spoilt kids travel near the front of the plane," says one airline employee. "They fly everywhere on their parents' corporate accounts. Why else would a six-year-old need the extra leg room or the free champagne?" 2. Greater safety In the event of a plane crash, economy class is considerably safer. A study by Popular Mechanics magazine surveyed all crashes from 1971 to 2007 and found that survival rates in the rear seats were 69 per cent, as opposed to 49 per cent at the front. Whether this inspires you to fly economy depends on your perspective. Your odds of dying in a plane crash are only 0.089 per 100,000 flight hours, and the odds of dying in a one-hour flight are less than one in a million. Wherever you sit, you should arrive in one piece. 3. Better for the environment One reason to feel proud of your economy-class seat is that it uses fewer resources. Flying already has the biggest environmental impact of any form of travel. A round trip from New York to Europe, for example, creates a warming effect equivalent to two or three tonnes of carbon dioxide a person. Economy class is clearly lower carbon because it allows a greater number of passengers on each flight. (How long before airlines, in their quest to reduce legroom, use the environment as an excuse?) Though it differs with each airline, business-class seats typically take up 3.5 times the floor space of economy seats, while first-class cubicles use 5.4 times the space. The exotic meals and other extras are not exactly "eco-friendly" either. This partly explains why the British Foreign Office, aiming to cut its emissions by 10 per cent in 2010, stopped business class trips for its staff. 4. Budget Obviously. That's the main reason we do it. But now the cost of economy class has become so cheap it could be considered a quicker alternative to driving or taking a train. 5. It's hard to go back Even if you enjoy one business-class trip, you will probably have to return to the cheap seats in future. This can be a trial. Once you've been in business or first class, you'll suddenly think that economy class is a living hell. Flying is suddenly re-imagined a terrible ordeal, in which you feel like a sardine and use words like "cattle class" (really overdoing the animal metaphors). In truth, it's not that bad. Unless you're 201 centimetres of course. What’s your best tip for flying economy? Written by Mark Juddery. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz">Stuff.co.nz.</a> Related links: <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/travel-tips/2017/01/passengers-should-be-weighed-for-flights-according-to-fellow-flyers/">Passengers should be weighed for flights, according to fellow flyers</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/travel-tips/2017/01/snake-on-a-plane-grounds-emirates-flight/">Snake on a plane grounds Emirates flight</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/international/2017/01/why-passengers-always-board-planes-from-the-left-side/">Why passengers always board planes from the left side</a>

Travel Tips

How to get the best seats in economy class

Not all economy seats are created equal. Exit row seats have more legroom, some seats have no seat in front of them, some airlines have separate cabins that are off limits to younger passengers, as aboard Scoot and Air Asia, and airlines have it sussed. A few years back they began to monetise these modest advantages and now they're all yours, for a fee. Suppose you don't want to pay, there are still a few ways to tilt the comfort factor in your favour when you're flying back of the bus. Seats toward the rear of the plane are bumpier, you might be almost the last off and expect more engine noise. You might be near the galley and toilets, you might be among the last to get a meal service. For all those reasons these are the last seats to be filled, but for those who can live with the downsides there's a decent chance of an empty seat beside you. For flyers who like to eyeball vacant rows and move as soon as the doors close, back of the plane is ideal. Another plus – you'll probably be among the first called for boarding, and more likely to score an empty overhead bin. Any seat in front of the wings is prime since engine noise is deflected backwards. Bulkhead seats are more likely to be affected by crying infants, although they usually give you a few extra centimetres of legroom. Bulkhead seating is a great choice for flyers that detest seat recliners since there's no seat in front to recline. Written by Michael Gebicki. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/">Stuff.co.nz.</a> Have you arranged your travel insurance yet? Tailor your cover to your needs and save money by not paying for things you don’t need. <a href="https://elevate.agatravelinsurance.com.au/oversixty?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=content&utm_content=link1&utm_campaign=travel-insurance">To arrange a quote, click here. </a>For more information about Over60 Travel Insurance, call 1800 622 966. Related links: <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/travel-tips/2017/01/airline-digital-pill-monitor-passengers/">Airline wants to monitor passengers with a pill</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/travel-tips/2017/01/why-people-queue-at-airports-before-they-need-to/">Why people queue at airports before they need to</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2016/12/never-lose-laptop-at-an-airport/">Simple trick to ensure you laptop is safe at an airport</a>

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Popular airline ditches reclining seats

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