Daily Brief – Part-Time Employment

Part-Time Employment

It became fashionable to talk about the “Gig Economy” 20 years ago when technology allowed people to tele commute, and at the same time younger workers elected lifestyle over lucre and went for part time employment, permitting travel and more time for themselves to pursue their non work interests. Then the global financial crisis swelled the ranks of the part timers more than 15 years ago. Finally Covid, and 5 years on the average across the EU is 17% of the total workforce is part time defined as working less hours than Full Time Employees. Northern Europe has embraced the concept with fervor, with Switzerland and the Netherlands at around 40%, and Austria and Germany at approximately 30%. The UK in case you are wondering is at a still very high 25%.

GBP/USD 1.3328.

European Investment Appetite

There is a marked discrepancy between the less profligate savings and investment savvy countries in Europe and the rest. Top of the table are the Scandinavians, Denmark and Sweden and the Netherlands followed by the UK, Italy, France, and Germany which range in having between 100% and 122% of their respective GDPs in financial instruments i.e. savings and investments. At the other end of the table, it is mostly populated by Eastern Europe with somewhere between 20 and 40% of their GDPs. The EU average is 94%, inflated by the high levels at the top of the table. Look no further than this table when understanding the divergent attitudes within Europe for budgets and joint expenditure initiatives.

EUR/USD 1.1642.

Reassuringly Swiss

Despite a price hike of 39% due to the Aug 7 US tariffs on Swiss goods, Swiss watch sales have remained strong. Watches of Switzerland the UK group have reported strong earnings and most of them come from the USA with Cartier, Rolex and Omega watches sufficiently and reassuringly expensive for US buyers to ensure strong demand.

EUR/GBP 0.8733.

Stoner Hill Road

Motorists around Petersfield Hampshire might have asked themselves whether they had been overdoing pre Christmas celebrations when they saw two wild boars fighting in the road on Saturday afternoon. But it was Stoner Hill Road, so there may have been other forces at work. 4 reported instances of those wild boars mixing it in the past week has led to the police advising people to be mindful – very New Age. Given the seasonal feasting requirements, a more radical solution involving roast meat and pate may be adopted if those altercations continue.

EUR/JPY 180.82.

Not Fade Away

This classic hit from the Rolling Stones has a special resonance for the band and in particular Keith Richards since it was almost exactly 60 years ago in 1965 that he stepped on a live microphone cable and was rendered unconscious having electrocuted himself. This was an early but not unusual self-inflicted assault on his body given KR’s proclivity for alcohol and pharmaceuticals or more usually both which he has honed to an art form over many years. History does not relate whether the electrocution gave the lead guitarist a positive creative jolt, but it is a fact that the Rolling Stones took off in a big way shortly afterwards so it definitely was not a negative one.

I’m gonna tell you how it’s gonna be
You’re gonna give your love to me
I’m gonna love you night and day
Well, love is love and not fade away
Oh, well, love is love and not fade away

My love bigger than a Cadillac
I try to show it and you’re driving me back
Your love for me has got to be real
For you to know just how I feel
Love is real and not fade away
Well, love is real and not fade away
(Yeah)

I’m gonna tell you how it’s gonna be
You’re gonna give your love to me
Love to last more than one day
Well, love is love and not fade away

Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

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