Nicola Millard - British Telecom Customer Experience Futurologist - Talking Business 2013 - Ep04

Summary: Interview with British Telecom Customer Experience Futurologist Nicola Millard Interview with RMIT economist Sinclair Davidson Leon and Garry discuss issues including: · The EU Commission saying the EU recession is worse than we thought · Italy at an impasse after an election seen as crucial for the eurozone failed to produce a clear winner and provided a shock debut for a populist anti-austerity party, rattling world markets and setting off alarm bells across Europe. · Britain losing its top AAA credit rating by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited weakness in the nation’s growth outlook and challenges to the government’s fiscal consolidation program. · HSBC's Flash Chinese manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) pulling back from a two-year high in the previous month, but the sector still showed signs of expansion in February. For the month of February the index came in at 50.4, a slight fall from the 24-month high of 51.7 recorded in January · More news on negotiations around the automatic US budget cuts and “sequester” · The Reserve Bank of Australia raising the possibility of participating in a global currency war if the Australian dollar rises much beyond its current level, possibly flooding the markets with newly printed Australian dollars to artificially lower its value · In what is now an escalating crisis at the Ten Network, James Warburton getting sacked as chief executive. · The Coalition preparing to demand that NBN Co make plans for a Labor loss in the coming federal election and understand how it would be affected by a change of government. · The coalition considering compensating big companies that are part-way through expensive refits to reduce their carbon price liability when the carbon tax is abolished · The 457 visa scheme for temporary overseas workers getting overhauled to stop rorting of the system, with the federal government accusing some employers of discriminating against Australians. Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor says the 457 visas will be tightened to ensure they are only used to address genuine skills shortages, and local workers are getting a "fair go". Under the crackdown, employers will be required to demonstrate they are nominating a position where there is a genuine shortage of workers · Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has downgraded its outlook on the A- long term rating assigned to mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd. · Company administrators suggest that Timber giant Gunns Ltd may have traded while insolvent · Changes to existing media ownership laws could see subscription television networks added to rules preventing a single media company from owning more than two media platforms in a given licence area. · An 18 per cent increase for Australia’s online advertising expenditure in 2012 · Lawyers preparing to mount a class action against Vodafone after years of complaints about the telecommunications provider. · MasterCard has launched a new digital wallet program designed to streamline online shopping. Australia to be the first country to get the service in March · QBE cuts jobs. · Profit figures for QBE, Caltex, IOOF, Patties Foods, WHK Group, Austrill, Whitehaven, Oil Search, Atlas Iron, Virgin, Flight Centre, Ramsay, Charter Hal, AGL, Westfield and Transfield.