Tausi Insider

Pedestrians pass a souvenir shop on Oxford Street, in London, on Nov. 11. Kirsty Wigglesworth/The Associated Press Britain’s economy shrank in the three months to September at the start of what is likely to be a lengthy recession, underscoring the challenge for finance minister Jeremy Hunt as he prepares to raise taxes and cut spending next week. Economic output shrank by 0.2 per cent in the third quarter, less than the 0.5 per cent contraction analysts had forecast in a Reuters poll, Friday’s official data showed. But it was the first fall in gross domestic product since the start of 2021, when Britain was still under tight coronavirus restrictions, as households and businesses struggle with a severe cost-of-living crisis. Britain’s economy is now further below its pre-pandemic size – it is the only Group of Seven economy yet to recover fully from the COVID slump – and is smaller than it was three years ago on a calendar-quarter basis. The Resolution Foundation think tank said that ...

Once burning-hot Canadian house prices are expected to tumble a total 17.5 per cent from their peak, roughly double the fall during the 2008-09 financial crisis, in a slowdown already well under way, according to a Reuters poll of market experts. A succession of rapid-fire Bank of Canada interest rate rises that has taken the overnight rate from near-zero to 3.75 per cent in just eight months has removed some steam from the market, with a doubling in the average five-year mortgage rate to near 5 per cent. But after a more than 50 per cent rise in house prices during the pandemic on top of what was already seen as one of the world’s most expensive property markets, that expected fall would not be enough to bring prices to affordable levels. With a debt to net disposable income ratio of 1.85, Canadian households are among the top most indebted in the world and more vulnerable to higher rates given their higher exposure to variable rate mortgages. Peak-to-trough correction forecasts in ...

Liability headaches are heaping up for companies in a range of industries as large numbers of employees work from home. Fred Lum/the Globe and Mail The heyday of the hybrid office is coming to an end. Many CEOs are grumbling that model – a mash-up of remote and in-person work that gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic – is making their employees less productive and corroding corporate culture. Perhaps that “productivity paranoia,” as Microsoft calls it, is all in our bosses’ heads. But the great hybrid experiment is hitting a new snag – one that gives credence to the view that more people should return to the office. Liability headaches are heaping up for companies in a range of industries as large numbers of employees work from home. They involve everything from occupational health and safety issues to privacy and security concerns. If an employee is hurt while working from home, is it a workplace injury? Should businesses provide workers with ergonomic chairs for remote ...