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San Jose Chamber new CEO hits ground running, crafts early priorities

SAN JOSE — Leah Toeniskoetter, the new CEO of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, has hit the ground running as the head of a business group that seeks strong leadership after recent years of turmoil and turnover. “I’m observing and listening,” Toeniskoetter, the chamber’s new president and chief executive officer, said in an interview with this news organization on Monday. “I need to understand what our members’ needs are and to attend to those needs.” Toeniskoetter met and chatted on Monday with business leaders and others as part of a monthly “coffee and connections” gathering at the organization’s downtown San Jose offices. She…

Perth woman’s $19 Busselton breakfast sparks frenzy on social media

A woman who felt ripped off by the cost of a simple weekend fry-up breakfast says she could have got the same thing for half the price at a petrol station — but believes it is a sign of the times. Tania Lewis was holidaying in Busselton, in , over the weekend when she ducked out for a morning meal at one of the popular tourist region’s cafés. She forked out $19 for bacon and eggs but was severely underwhelmed when the meal was delivered to her table. On the plate were two pieces of toasted white bread, a few rashers of bacon, two small poached eggs and some butter. While she technically “got what I ordered”, Lewis was caught out by…

Mortgage rate decline pulls buyers back into the housing market

A sharp drop in mortgage interest rates in December may have kickstarted this year’s spring housing market early. Rates are about a full percentage point lower than they were in October, and consumers expect they will fall even more. Optimism about mortgage rates increased sharply in December, according to a monthly consumer survey by Fannie Mae . For the first time since the survey was launched in 2010, more homeowners on net believe rates will go down rather than up, according to Mark Palim, deputy chief economist at Fannie Mae. “This significant shift in consumer expectations comes on the heels of the recent bond market rally,”…

BRICS' Expansion in the Global South

Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates formally joined the BRICS group of major emerging economies on January 1, 2024 , expanding the bloc’s footprint in the Global South and growing its economic and political clout on the world stage, establishing a real counterweight to the Western-dominated G7 . if(window.innerWidthADVERTISEMENTfreestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: "oilprice_medrec_atf", slotId: "oilprice_medrec_atf" });';document.write(write_html);} You will find more infographics at Statista In August, the bloc had announced that it would be admitting six new members, including Argentina…

Private school graduates tend to earn more. Why? It’s complicated

When I was 12 years old my parents gave me a choice. I could stay at the leafy-green Perth private school I’d cracked into that year on an academic scholarship, or move to a selective public school. At the time, I shrugged my shoulders: I liked where I was, but wondered what a change might bring. In a decision that felt like a coin toss, I went down the public school path. Illustration: Andrew Dyson My decision was not guided by whether I might ultimately earn more as the graduate of a public, rather than a private, school. But that is a preoccupation for aspirational parents who often pay huge premiums to send their children to…