Tom Griffith, co-founder of Emma and Tom’s juice company - Talking Business 2013 - Ep 12

Summary: Interview with Tom Griffith from Emma and Tom’s juice company. Griffith, who started his career as a chartered accountant, talks about how he started the company. Interview with RMIT economist Sinclair Davidson. Leon and Garry discuss issues including: · Eurostat data showing that the austerity pain being pursued by a number of European countries led to very little gain in 2012. At the same time, The head of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso has suggested the political and social tide may have turned against austerity while Spain’s economy is set to shrink by between 1.0 per cent and 1.5 per cent this year · Fitch stripping recession-threatened Britain of its top triple-A rating, moving it down one notch to AA+ · Manufacturing activity in China expanding in April at the slowest pace in two months · The Grattan Institute warning that Australian governments are facing a budget black hole of deficits so large that politically painful cuts to growth in public health and education spending are all but unavoidable if the nation is to avoid a European-style debt quagmire · Standard and Poor’s warning that Australia’s AAA rating could be vulnerable in five years if it doubts the government’s commitment to restoring the surplus · Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has warned that the budget will not return to surplus until tax collections recover from a strong dollar “sledgehammer” that he said pushed revenues $7.5 billion below official forecasts for this financial year but Julia Gillard vowing there wouldn’t be severe cuts in the May Budget · Deloitte Access Economics saying interest rates should remain low for a couple of years given there is no immediate danger to the inflation outlook · Commsec data revealing that the gap between the country's best performing state or territory economy, Western Australia, and the worst, Tasmania, appears to be widening · Shadow Assistant Treasurer Mathias Cormann hinting that promised company tax cuts may not be as big as the 1.5 per cent previously pledged, saying a final decision would be made after the election. · Power companies warning the Coalition that its “direct action” plan for reducing carbon emissions could be more difficult to cope with than Labor's plan. · Australia’s population hitting 23 million · New figures showing housing prices are on the rise. Australian Property Monitors said on Wednesday in its quarterly housing report that the median price of a house rose by 3.2 per cent over the year to March. · AICD survey showing Australia's company directors are more optimistic about business growth prospects in the year ahead. This is despite ongoing anger at what they see as crippling increases in government regulations · Prime Minister Julia Gillard having ten weeks to convince all state and territory leaders to sign up to her Gonski schools funding deal and New South Wales becoming the first State to sign on to the package · A DBM Consultants survey showing Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac rank highest for customer satisfaction among the big four banks, while ANZ and NAB are languishing.