The US Government Shutdown Made Simples (Until the end bit, then it gets a touch complicated..)

Imagine for a moment that you are a US citizen. Now, picture that you are a cleaner and you work for the US government. You there? OK.

You are not a cleaner at the White House. You do not sweep the floor of the President’s office. You’ve never even been to Washington D.C. You are a cleaner of the café, gift shop and mini-museum at a government-run national park in Colorado.

ESSENTIAL IS AS NON-ESSENTIAL DOES

And now – due to the US government shutdown – you are one of 800,000 “non-essential” staff who have been sent home with little idea of when you may be returning to work, or being paid. You optimistically hope you’ll still receive your paycheck. After all, that’s what happened following previous federal shutdowns. But you also know that by law you are not entitled to be compensated and so must simply keep your fingers and toes crossed that Congress will opt to reimburse losses once the shutdown ends.

But you also recognize that for the more than 2 million “essential” federal workers who currently remain on the clock, things are no simpler. While by law these staffers are entitled to their salary, the law does not stipulate when that payment will be made. Should the shutdown last beyond the two-week pay cycle, then we enter into unpaid labor territory.

So that’s around 3 million people with limited ability to make mortgage payments, purchase fuel and buy clothes. And as such, approximately 3 million people making a significantly reduced contribution to the US economy.

FLU-SEASON

OK. We’re sticking with the cleaner analogy. Only now you’re a cleaner in Europe or in the UK. What does the US government shutdown mean for you?

In my office we have a one liner a guest used once-upon-a-time that ‘when the US sneezes, Europe catches a cold.’

The US is the largest economy in the world. The global financial markets are regularly sent into a meltdown/hold their breath/cower behind their calculator over buzzwords such as ‘Operation Twist’, ‘Fiscal Cliff’ and the more recent ‘tapering’. All of which relate to US-exclusive policy.

To provide an example: The latest concerns over the scaling down of the US Federal Reserve’s bond-buying program have contributed to significant outflows in the currency and stock markets of Emerging Market countries such as India and Turkey – Not the richest countries to begin with and not exactly local to the US!

While most of us this side of the pond have naturally had a “WTF” moment, European markets themselves have responded to the shutdown with relative calm. As mentioned above, ‘uncertainty’ has been top of the financial community’s vocab most of the summer. To some, this is simply more of the same. The fear however lies in how long the shutdown could last and the impending damage.

And that’s where you – the cleaner – start to worry.

THE COMPLICATED BIT

A one-week shutdown should have a less than 0.1% impact on US growth. A shutdown of at least one month could take 1-2% off fourth quarter growth according to market insiders who spoke to Bloomberg. US weakness could lead to a slowdown in export trade and also end up hurting oil-exporting nations.

Big D Cameron (The ‘D’ can stand for whatever your political/personal persuasion desires..)  has commented that the shutdown is a warning to other countries:

It’s “a reminder to all of us that we need to have properly planned public-expenditure systems, properly planned tax, properly planned arrangements for getting our deficit down.”

But it’s also a reminder of just exactly how far this whole mess could go.

Anyone familiar with 2009? What started off as a US problem with the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008 stripped economies this side of the Atlantic in a manner similar to how my puppy deals with chew-toys. Not pretty. The green shoots of European recovery are just beginning to sprout through and a still-fragile European economy could end up feeling the shock waves of a US slowdown.

Finance bods scare easy. And according to some if they sense that the US and Europe are on the downhill slope they’ll take their pennies out of sovereign debt and invest them into gold, cash, stuff them under the mattress, put them anywhere but in sovereign debt. And boom, we’re back in the Euro crisis.

I told you, it’s the sneeze/cold ratio. Who’d have thought a political deadlock over who’s going to top up the White House ‘leccy meter could have such impact huh?!

Final thought? The US government are currently bickering over spending priorities. The cleaners of the US, Europe and the UK do not have that same luxury.

“Are you in love?” and other social pitfalls of weightloss

I have lost weight. Not a considerable amount. Not even a dress-size. Just a bit of tightening up here and there to make the bikini season bearable and lessen the blow of next month’s quarter-century-crisis.

My confidence got a boost when people first started noticing; even if it was male friends highlighting that my boobs – never my greatest asset – had shrunk! But knowing that Little Pot (Everyone has a pet name for their tummy, right?) was shaping up and people were noticing definitely made the 7am gym-classes worthwhile.

THE PRICE OF LOOKING “BEE-OOOTIFOOL”

And then it all started to get a bit embarrassing. Currently in Geneva with work, I’m met with wonderfully French comments of “You look bee-oootifool, are you een looove?” which always make me want to get my teeny tiny feminist sword and shield out and wave them about. Then there’s those who wish me luck in “finding Prince Charming” – Both super-cute and super-patronising all at the same time, as if they don’t remember the life-cycle of a twenty-something female: Work-Gym-Binge Eat/Drink-Sleep and Repeat.

Although nothing makes my English sense of propriety (otherwise known as ‘Hugh Grant Syndrome’) flare up more than when met with the direct question “Have you lost weight?” I wish I could possess ‘Camera Natalie’s’ composure and respond with “Why yes, I have, thank you for noticing.” But invariably the brashness of the question – usually from Americans or family members – combined with the inherent inability to receive a compliment gracefully, often leaves me fumbling around red-faced, hair twiddling for a response.

AVOIDING THE ‘W’ WORD

This is usually where I get to the moral message of my diatribe. I am not, repeat not saying that you shouldn’t compliment someone if you happen to notice that they’ve trimmed up and are looking good for it. Everyone likes to be told they look nice. Just try to leave the ‘W’ word out. Similarly don’t assume that there’s an ‘other’ involved. My gym buddy – who was recently stopped in the street and quizzed over ‘his’ identity – pointed out to me that this is a mistake often made by men whose automatic thinking is that behind every healthy/happy woman there’s a man (“literally”). Your trainers may come as a pair, but there’s only room for 1 on the treadmill!

And for those on the other side of the coin: Eat what you want. Exercise if and when you want. Drink tequila and if it makes you feel good, keep bloody doing it! Take the compliments with a smile (and perhaps more grace than I manage..) but mostly just make sure you’re putting the work in for the right person: You!

Off for a run!

Women in Finance: Bulls, Bears or Babes?

Angela Merkel, German Chancellor; Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF; Julia Gillard, Australian Prime Minister. All women in power at the peak of a global financial crisis. This comes as Morgan Stanley launch a parity portfolio investing specifically in companies with female board members. The numbers show that their stock price performs better than if the board is composed of all men. A claim also supported by Credit Suisse and several other firms whose female hedge fund managers are outperforming their male counterparts.

But in such a male-dominated arena and at such a crucial time why now this change in trend?

It’s simples: Women understand the global crisis better than men.

Now before all you menfolk chortle at the little woman whilst watching Formula 1 and stroking your fledgling man-beard, stick with me ok?

QUEEN OF THE CALCULATOR

Next week sees the release of several countries CPI reports (ie headline inflation). Inflation is an indicator of fuel, food and energy prices. Items which for years have come under the woman’s remit as keeper of the house and feeder of all, while the male species are out doing the hunter-gatherer bit. A recent interviewee of mine – a prominent businessman – even admitted he couldn’t recall the last time he’d stepped foot in a supermarket. And his home’s last heating bill? Forget about it! When it comes to matters of the home, and more importantly the cost of keeping house, noone has their finger on the pulse more than a woman.

Social history may finally be providing women a well-deserved payback. Years of being CEO of the household mean that in a time of recession, shrinking budgets and higher costs, women simply get it more both in the home and in the boardroom.

HITTING TARGETS

However it’s not all plain sailing, as a UK report released this week indicated that despite an initial surge, there has been a slowdown in the appointment of females to the board’s of FTSE 100 companies, which could mean the missing of two targets:

1. 25% female membership of FTSE 100 boards by 2015, set by a government-commissioned report
2. 40% female non-executive directors by 2020, set by the EU

The Answer? Well according to Vince Cable, it could lay in quotas. While the UK Business Secretary has been quick to emphasise that the government wants companies to take a voluntary approach to these targets, quotas remain “a real possibility.”

“Who cares?” a female acquaintance recently said when discussing female-favourable hiring, “Men have been doing it for years!”  

Of course we want more women in senior positions. But to have the door held open for us simply to appease a quota? All that would do is teach women that it’s ok to be mediocre and could – worse case scenario –  impact UK business performance.

Put women in influential positions within the finance industry yes, but only if they are the right candidates. Correct thinking and leadership are the only way to drag us out of recession and into recovery.

Well that or a money tree..

Home is Where the Heart Is

On Tuesday, I attended a training session at a local hockey club in Geneva. Naturally curious about the new girl, I was asked by some of the players where I was from and what I was doing in Geneva. Having lived the nomadic lifestyle for 3 months now, I’ve got pretty good at explaining my job and the travelling it requires – The key I’ve found, is to speak slowly and punctuate my answer with shots!

Dream Home..
Courtesy of fruitheart.blogspot.com

One week into a month-long stint in Geneva, one of my favourite things about this city is the international community. As of 2008 44% of the demographic are not native to Switzerland. Attending a work social, it was amazing to hear the number of different languages being spoken across mojito-laden tables. It’s impossible to feel out-of-place here because so is everyone else.

When I do get the chance to go back to the UK, the question my friends and family ask the most is “Are you missing home?”, followed very closely by “Are you looking forward to going back?”. I’m always taken by surprise when I realise that both are true.

It was Dorothy with her ruby-red slippers who uttered the now immortal words

Spiritual Home..?!
Image copyright Natalie MacDonald

“There’s no place like home.” And while there are often moments when aalll I want to do is get on a plane and head for England’s green and pleasant lands, I’m finding that both Riga and Geneva are becoming like home in their own ways.

Darwinism denotes that human beings grow and adapt to fit with their surroundings in order to survive. Our definitions of ourselves adjust to meet with our environment. So too do our definitions of home change, as we take our ideas of what makes a place home and adapt it to fit with our environment. My way of doing this? Finding a hockey team. Or working out the transport system so I can go shopping. Even something simple like finding a running route can take a city from being simply a location to being somewhere more like home; albeit a temporary one.

Now I just need to work on my French..!

Home is where the Hert is
Image copyright-Natalie MacDonald

Fake It till you Make It

On a recent Friday night at the pub, conversation turned to “If you could do anything, what would it be?” Without a moment’s hesitation I replied “Act”. Surprised at both the speed and randomness of the answer, my friend probed a little further.

I was always envious of my younger brother, who moved schools after GCSE’s to attend a Performing Arts school. We had both joined Am-Dram groups outside of school, taken roles in plays, and both possessed an inclination towards the creative. For my brother, his creativity was more lucid whereas mine was more pragmatic [read “safe”]. While he was still “figuring it out” and finding his niche, expectation denoted that I would choose a more “academic” route.

WORDSMITH NUMBER-CRUNCHER

Fast forward a few years and I am a Financial Broadcaster interviewing banking bigwigs on any number of topics from private equity to the price of Gold. I spend my evenings desperately researching how likely the SNB are to raise the exchange rate floor from 1.20, and my days trying not to throw a blank when an interviewee mentions a term not covered by my Investopedia-sponsored home schooling.

But somewhere amidst this fear of being “found out”, I realised that I was acting to a certain degree.

1. Interview questions: CHECK
2. Big Girl high heels that remind my brain it’s show-time: CHECK
3. Entertaining financial anecdote: CHECK
4. Knowledge of high-yield derivatives trading: ..Sure!

ACT AS IF

This idea isn’t uncommon within the Journalism industry. Ever noticed how one journalist will adopt several prefixes to their “Journalist” title in one week?

But we all do it constantly. At that very important job interview, we pretend to be the person we think our prospective employer will want to hire. Once we get the job we then have to continue to be that person, at least until the probation period is over!

I’m not even saying it’s a bad thing. If we take active steps to imitate something for long enough then, ultimately, those steps will lead us closer to that “lead role”.

Until then, just keep acting Dahlings!

Poking the Payroll

Switzels Matlow, the sweet-making firm behind Refreshers and Mr Chew, have claimed that of the 500 staff who work at its Love Hearts factory in Derbyshire, 122 are in a relationship with each other.

The cynic in me can’t help but think that this conveniently timed announcement just ahead of Valentines Day smacks slightly of a last-ditch PR ploy to sell these pastel-coloured, cellophane-wrapped declarations of edible PDA.

But then it is also a fact that 40% of people have admitted to having a relationship in the workplace, with a staggering 84% of 18 to 29 year-olds stating that they would date a colleague. This figure drops off to 36% for survey participants over the 30 mark – Presumably because they already pinned down that bloke from Accounts, let him put his pencil in her sharpener in the Stationary cupboard, then caught him making out with the slutty secretary at the Christmas party during in their Twenties.

THE COUPLE THAT PLAYS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER

Image courtesy of specialagentkate, Flickr.com

An article by Gary McClain and Deborah S. Romaine suggests that the likelihood of a relationship taking place at work increases with the level of commitment the job demands. This perhaps might explain why the bar industry is notoriously incestuous. The long, unsociable hours at work surrounded by over-sambuca’d, over-sexed customers have encouraged many after-hours relationships to blossom.

There’s also the notion of shared experience. Who can understand you better than someone working within the same company as you? Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie infamously met on the set of ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’, and magazines are constantly touting celebrity couples who met on the set of this or that film. When I first heard about Harry Styles and Caroline Flack my first thought was..OK well yes my first thought was the age gap, but then it struck me ‘Well, where else is he going to meet someone?!’ Plus there’s something very attractive about a person with a skill. Where does someone portray their skill-set more so than in the workplace?

DON’T POKE THE PAYROLL

Either way, the pitfalls of entering into a workplace romance are obvious. While it’s all going great, you’re the company’s hottest couple. But when it goes wrong.. [Insert crying in the toilets/Being passed over for promotion/Co-workers gossiping about you story here].

Just ask John Prescott. In 2006 police were forced to investigate a complaint that the then-Deputy Prime Minister had broken the law by having sex with his secretary in his Whitehall office during their affair.  Some companies have even introduced policies regarding inter-office dating, particularly managers dating subordinates.

Perhaps the best office romances are the under-stated ones; the relationships that slip under the radar so that when they do end, the collateral damage is minimal. The Big Bang Theory co-stars Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki dated in secret for two years, allowing them to maintain a professional relationship when the romance reached its mutual end.

This being said. If anyone does wish to exchange Love Hearts, as one couple at the Derbyshire factory are purported to have done before they got chatting in the work canteen, then don’t look at me.

Been there. Done that.

HAPPY LOVE DAY!

Ebay: Selling your stuff and your dignity

Like many women I own too many clothes. And shoes. And bags.

Image taken from Flickr.com

I hold regular purging ceremonies, donating to charity, to friends younger sister’s, and also on occasion to our loft (just in case!) and yet still my collection grows!

And so in a dual effort to clear out my wardrobe and also make some money I decided to sell some stuff on Ebay.

It’s not deciding what to sell that troubles me. I’m pretty mercenary about what stays and what goes.

Item gets ditched if:

• It hasn’t been worn in a year
• It’s not vintage or designer (and therefore of no use to future generations of Shopaholics)
• I can’t think of a really good excuse to keep it (I mean really good)

Easy peasy. It’s writing the description’s that I struggle with!

There’s something just beyond cringingly intimate about describing your clothes

It feels a bit like a dating site-Funniest, prettiest picture; honest but not so honest that noone will want to date you..I mean buy you…I mean..ARGH!

Where else would you have to put the exact measurements of the skirt you wore that night you had way too much tequila and threw your chips at some guy in McDonald’s?! Too short and you look like a slut, too long and you cut off half your target market.

But you battle on, trying to view your clothes through the eyes of a prospective buyer, and before you know it you start mentally visualising said skirt with items in your wardrobe, ooh and those shoes I saw last week…!

Dad won’t notice another box in the loft will he?!

New Year, New You? Screw that, the old one will do!

It’s about that point in the month when New Years resolutions begin to slip a little.

The stress of January deadlines, topped by two weekends playing designated driver has made that Sunday evening beverage look ever more appealing . The realisation that your Boxing Day sales binge and New Years away means that your wages won’t quite stretch to that gym membership you promised yourself.

It’s ok. You’re not alone. 62% of people go through the charade of creating New Years resolutions each year, only 8% of which are successful. 1 in 4 people fail on every resolution, every year!

A work colleague asked me what my goal for 2012 was. I was a little stumped as I realised that having moved to the other side of Europe for a new job in the concluding weeks of 2011, I’d set the bar pretty high for 2012!

I also spoke to a friend whose only resolution, albeit tongue in cheek, was to “Be more awesome!”

Image courtesy of @garydunion on Twitter

He had a point. I had a think about the things I wanted to change about myself, and trust me there are many! But then I realised that the old me was doing ok, I just needed to do more of it.

GO HARD OR GO HOME

The phrase “Go Hard Or Go Home” is usually synonymous with nights out but I thought about applying it to everyday things. I already have my “first-wrung-on-the-career-ladder” job, may as well work my ass off and be the best that I can at it. I try to go running as often as I can, screw it, go everyday! Don’t compartmentalize your life and try to make it over, just go the full hog, why not?

And I’m not the only one. My best friend had always loved Australia whenever she’d been there on holiday. So she went hardcore and saw in the New Year in Sydney where she’s moved to for a year. Another friend had the realisation that an office job wasn’t for her, so she stepped it up a gear and is now applying to join Sandhurst.

These are extreme cases but my point is that if you’re not going to do everything in life to the fullest, you may as well go home and twiddle your thumbs there. So focus on the things that you do do, whether it be that diet you’re toying with, or playing football on a Sunday, and do it I well!

And before you all judge me for thinking I don’t need to make any changes to my life, I did decide on a Dry January as part of a sympathy diet with a work colleague. Two weeks in and yes I broke it! I have had 2 glasses of red wine but I’m not going to beat myself up about it. A drink every so often is ok, it’s face-planting into my pillow every weekend I’m looking to avoid!

Oh and blogging. I created this thing, so I may as well take the time to blog twice a week. Aren’t you lot lucky!

Britain’s Rainbow Babies

Last week, the Royal College of Midwives announced that parts of Britain are facing a dangerous shortage of midwives; putting mothers and babies across the country at risk.

While this has been a widely recognised feeling amongst those within the profession for some time, the RCM has decided that with a 22% rise in birthrates in England, it was time to shock the government into action and force David Cameron to honour his pre-election pledge to recruit more midwives.

This also coincided with Grazia and SANDS presenting a petition with more than 1,200 signatures to Downing Street. Grazia launched a campaign in co-ordination with SANDS earlier this year following a number of celebrity stillbirths and the publication of The Lancet Stillbirth Series. The aim of the petition was to pressure the government into allocating more funding to research into stillbirth.

11 babies are stillborn in the UK every day. A recent Lancet study placed Britain 33^rd out of 35 high-income nations in terms of stillbirth rates. An easier way of interpreting this information is to think of the UK as ranking 3^rd worst out of 35 high-income nations, with only France and Austria performing worse. It also indicated that that those living in the East Midlands are a third more likely to suffer stillbirths that those living in the South-West.

I have spent the last 3 months investigating the issue of stillbirth rates in the UK as the country is slowly beginning to wake up to this devastating problem.

Please listen to the documentary below as I talk to medical experts, and the Royal College of Midwives to find out how the UK came to be in this position. With interviews including MP Christopher Heaton-Harris, an NHS Trust bereavement midwife, and founder of Count the Kicks charity Sophia Mason, I also investigate what is being done to protect these precious lives.

A Little Birdy Told Me: The other side of the Twitter storm

As a journalism student I expect to be the one finding the story. However Monday 9th May was an interesting 24 hours!

I had become the story, as the media wrongly suspected me of being behind the controversial Twitter account leaking information about a spate of celebrity super injunctions including false allegations of an affair between Jemima Khan and Jeremy Clarkson.

The lead was a non-starter. I had no information or any relationship with this account. However this didn’t stop journalists from numerous outlets including the Evening Standard, The Sun and ITV News attempting to hunt me out, with the Daily Mail even turning up at my parent’s home in Hertfordshire.

Hear my side of the Twitter scandal that rocked the UK’s media in May 2011. Understand the investigative process journalists take when putting a story together and find out what happens when a student journalist gets on the wrong side of a story!