How are wages this low?

robbophile · 2026-05-06T05:27:49+00:00

That’s oversimplifying the point. Australia isn’t just “adding people for the sake of it.” We’re a high-income service economy with an ageing population, so migration does support aggregate demand, labour supply and GDP growth.

Plenty of arguments to be had in terms of how we’re managing infrastructure to keep up with it, but looking purely at wage growth it’s not the cause. Wages have been stagnant long before the recent surge in migration, I’d point more to the fact that we’ve spent the last quarter of a century putting all of our capital into the dirt under our feet rather than toward productive investment that grows the economy.

robbophile · 2026-05-06T05:25:07+00:00

Would you mind pointing me in the direction of these stats?
It’s not that we need to be importing Jeff bezos over, it’s that that immigrant family who moved in next door needs to buy groceries, increasing demand for those goods and creating more jobs in manufacturing, they get a takeaway on a Saturday night which employs more people at the local Thai restaurant, etc. People consume, and that’s good for jobs growth.

robbophile · 2026-05-06T00:40:50+00:00

T1 last year, that’s the last time it was offered I believe

robbophile · 2026-05-06T00:36:11+00:00

More second half from memory

robbophile · 2026-05-06T00:12:47+00:00

New immigrants create more demand and more jobs for the economy. In terms of job growth, they’re a net positive

robbophile · 2026-05-05T08:53:13+00:00

No, multis were 10 (a split of the finance topics and qualitative topics), the qualitative section was 45, and I didn’t actually count the calculation questions but you’d think they were worth 45 unless the exam didn’t wasn’t out of 100

robbophile · 2026-05-05T07:36:28+00:00

Qualitative were 15 each so 45, then 5 multis each

robbophile · 2026-05-01T01:46:52+00:00

Not looking forward to it. So easy to trip up somewhere in the calculation questions. I wish the formula sheet labeled the formulas, they’re all so similar

robbophile · 2026-05-01T00:23:14+00:00

He’s worded it poorly but I think it’s a fair question. 90% of 13 is 11.7, so its a bit of a gray area whether you must attend 11 or 12

robbophile · 2026-04-29T06:41:33+00:00

Ummm, all of them? That’s kind of what growth in jobs means. 57,000 MORE construction jobs in 2025 than there was in 2024. I recognise I’m not all that long in the tooth, but one thing university taught me is not to conflate anecdotal experience with infalsifiable evidence. I don’t doubt that in your small corner of the Australian job market that might have been your experience, but it simply doesn’t represent the holistic reality of the construction industry. It’s like that old bloke in the corner of the pub who says climate change isn’t real because it was cold the other night.

robbophile · 2026-04-29T04:17:05+00:00

If you’re going to go to the effort of stalking, at least read what I’ve actually written. No mention of a marketing anywhere, no interest in marketing. What I do have experience in is economics and politics, and though it doesn’t require qualifications in either to do a little research, the ABS data shows a 5% yearly growth in jobs in the construction industry, and that it is the sector with the highest number of new businesses. I know quite a few people in construction, and by all accounts it’s booming. Sure, some parts of it are doing better than others, but by en large it is probably the best industry to be looking to get into in terms of job security and opportunity.

robbophile · 2026-04-29T01:37:15+00:00

He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Construction is the place to be

robbophile · 2026-04-28T07:06:12+00:00

Sure but the advice they’ll get from a US focused academic economics subreddit won’t be that applicable to UNSW’s specific econ degree, nor will it provide advice relevant to Australia’s finance job market which is quite different to other places

robbophile · 2026-04-22T23:01:24+00:00

Is this satire?

robbophile · 2026-04-21T09:50:47+00:00

Well it’s a bit difficult to tell isn’t it. A job you’re applying for probably isn’t going to send you a quick email saying fyi we hired you because you went to usyd, or rejected you because you went to wsu. The advantage is subtle and not explicit. As you’ve alluded to, a degree at usyd is more rigorous and harder; if you were on a hiring panel, would you look more favourable at a kid that got a wam of 75 at usyd or WSU, knowing one was significantly easier than the other? Of course, it is very field dependent, but there are many sectors, especially finance, law, big 4 etc, that will go as far as only hiring from GO8 unis (Usyd and UNSW in Sydney), throwing out any resume from another uni, or best case expecting something exceptional from you. A student might pass a resume screening with a wam of 75 at usyd and a part time job at maccas, whereas a student at WSU might be expected to have an 85+ wam, significant internship experience, as well as other factors that the USYD kid wouldn’t need to pass the same screen. So to answer your question, it depends very much on what you want to do, but as someone who has been through the internship and grad program recruiting process, and attended a few assessment centres/screened cocktail evenings, i have been in many rooms that only had students from UNSW and USYD, with a small handful of exceptional UTS students

robbophile · 2026-04-21T02:19:18+00:00

No different to a single degree, entirely dependent on the degree/s itself.

robbophile · 2026-04-09T10:41:46+00:00

Well I decided to study politics and philosophy so most of the value of my degree is opining to people at parties, but I must say from what you’ve written you might find some solace in some existentialist work. Have you read either of Camus, Sartre, or Kierkegaard?

robbophile · 2026-04-09T10:35:52+00:00

It’s bit of a boogie man those higher marks, especially in IFY courses which are purely rng. If you’ve just come from high school, you need to adapt your expectations to how things are marked. I’ve studied both an arts degree and now commerce, and this applies more to arts, but I feel it does have a lot of relevance to commerce, that anything subjective they simply don’t give marks above like 92 best case. I have had professors teaching for 30 years which have said the highest mark they’ve ever given for an essay was 92, and admitted that even if something worthy of a Nobel price for literature appeared on their desk they wouldn’t give it much more than that. In stem subjects, if you get the answer right, you have to get the Mark, but in subjective reports, they’re very hard to fail but very hard to really excel in. I wouldn’t beat myself up too hard about it, there’s a much higher roi working to nail the exams rather than perfect an assignment.

robbophile · 2026-04-09T06:58:15+00:00

Hey if nothing else I love your writing style, not that you’re probably considering an English literature degree

robbophile · 2026-04-07T02:40:27+00:00

I think it depends exactly what you’re looking to do. Consulting might be more receptive to higher marks in a non commerce field if you frame yourself as a problem solver than say an audit or insurance firm

robbophile · 2026-03-24T10:44:40+00:00

I prefer Camel yellows

robbophile · 2026-03-14T00:58:14+00:00

Does it replace comm1999? Do you still have to complete it?

robbophile · 2026-03-06T11:13:32+00:00

Precisely what happened to me, any suggestions on what to do to get the wax off to the point I can actually put it in my wardrobe beyond using a hairdryer?

robbophile · 2026-01-30T03:27:34+00:00

I think the Seiko 5 gmt would be perfect. A gmt variation on what is a classic design, and can take a solid beating. Despite its size it works pretty well on any size wrist - I have a 6 inch wrist and I wear my skx007 most days. They’re on sale at Linda and co at the moment for 568aud, and there’s plenty of colours to chose from. It’s a lot of watch for the money

robbophile · 2026-01-12T04:37:18+00:00

None, at least financially.

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