We’re checking out of 2017 a little early this year. Our newsletter won’t be back until January 15.
Yes, we know. It’s a long stretch. But you’ll be enjoying yourself and we don’t want to spoil the party like Ebenezer Scrooge.
We’ll be back to help you work out what to do with all those bills just in time (we hope!) to get you back on the straight and narrow!
It’s been a roller-coaster year in which we’ve seen the property market execute a u-turn (Sydney’s at its lowest in 6 years and Brisbane is looking decidedly rocky). There has been jobs growth, but not much happening to wages.
The Reserve Bank has sat on its hands on loan rates – and is likely to do the same for some months into 2018.
There is a changing of the guard: Rupert Murdoch and Frank Lowy, two goliaths of business, are hanging up their balance sheets after handing over their empires to even bigger corporates.
Amazon has launched and looks set to transform our retail scene.
Here’s what you ordered in the first week:
The top ten selling items on Amazon Australia in the last week:
The Bitcoin has seen phenominal growth – even though none of us understands it. Reserve Bank boss Phillip Lowe is scathing, labelling rampant trading in the cryptocurrency a “speculative mania” and adding that it’s unlikely to play a meaningful role in the future of payments.
But we’re all feeling better, apparently. The ANZ-Roy Morgan cnsumer confidence index soared 0.7% to 115.8. Households are apparently more optimistic about current and future trends. The index is at a high not seen for four years.
The Fairfax-Lateral Economics wellbeing index – which provides a broader measure of national welfare – shows the value of Australia’s collective wellbeing in the year to September 30 was $28 billion higher than the previous year.
The wellbeing index adjusts gross domestic product to take account of knowhow, health, work life, social inequality and environmental degradation and puts a dollar figure on Australia’s collective wellbeing. It provides a richer, deeper measure of national welfare than GDP which is an economic indicator and simply doesn’t measure some things that really matter.
The wellbeing index rose by a solid 0.6 per cent in the September quarter – close to its long term quarterly average growth of 0.7 per cent.
Perhaps there is a better way to guage the nation’s interests: What we searched for on Google.
“From from slime to sport, covfefe to cryptocurrency and hurricanes to hot cross buns – Aussies searched for an eclectic bunch of topics this year,” says Google.
Our favourite search terms?
Overall
- Australian Open 2017
- Melbourne Cup 2017
- Wimbledon 2017
- Fidget spinner
- Cyclone Debbie
- iPhone 8
- North Korea
- Chris Cornell
- iPhone X
- Amazon Australia site
News
- Cyclone Debbie
- North Korea
- Amazon Australia site
- Hurricane Irma
- Bali volcano
- London
- Las Vegas
- Manchester
- UK election
- Schapelle Corby
People
- Sophie Monk
- Kate Fischer
- chapelle Corby
- Ben McCormack
- Dustin Martin
- Cassie Sainsbury
- Lisa Wilkinson
- Paul Hogan
- Katherine Langford
- Amber Sherlock
How to …?
- How to make slime
- How to make a fidget spinner
- How to make fluffy slime
- How to watch Mayweather vs McGregor
- How to buy Bitcoin
- How to make slime without borax
- How to use Snapchat map
- How to unblock people on Instagram
- How to make slime without glue
- How to vote for gay marriage
A very Happy Christmas and see you in 2018!