The Ticker: Modern business life

The three main ways companies are using Luxembourg to mitigate their taxes, one graph on why you should expect weaker Christmas discounts and does your profession determine your political bias?

On today's blog:

Does your profession determine your political bias?
Australian rental prices are growing at slowest pace in over a decade
One graph on why you should expect weaker Christmas discounts
Annual reports are getting shorter, but are still full of jargon
Who runs the world? Here's the list
Video explainer: The three main ways companies are using Luxembourg to mitigate their taxes
Interesting reads from around the web

Got something you would like to add to the blog? Email (harrison.polites@businessspectator.com.au) or get in touch on Twitter.

3.10pm - Does your profession determine your political bias?

Does your job ultimately determine your world view? That's the question at the heart of this latest study by US political analysis firm CrowdPac.

It's an interesting, albeit complex study. Using political donation data tracing back to the 1980s, the group correlated donations, professions and the political affiliation of the candidate receiving the funds to produce the chart below.

You can see more industry specific data points here.

12.50am - Australian rental prices are growing at slowest pace in over a decade

By Chris Kohler, BuisnessNow

Rental prices in Australian capital cities are rising at their slowest annual pace since August 2003, according to research from RP Data.

Research Analyst Cameron Kusher says the rate of rental growth is easing on the back of a large rise in capital city home values and a strong rise in the supply of new homes being built.
Added to this is the impact of record level investor buying which ultimately affects overall rental market supply.

“Slow rental growth rates have a knock on effect for rental yields,” he said.

11.55am - One graph on why you should expect weaker Christmas discounts

Just a useful graph we found in Deloitte's latest Christmas retail survey. The crux of it: expect better Boxing Day sales, but weaker offers leading up to Christmas.

11.40am - Annual reports are getting shorter, but are still full of jargon

KPMG's latest research holds some good news for analysts, business journalists and pretty much anyone who hates trawling through long, winding company reports. Focusing on the ASX 200, the group found that the majority of these documents are getting shorter. It's an interesting trend considering that the accounting requirements for annual reports are heading in the opposite direction.

On the flipside however, it seems they are not getting any simpler. Annual reports are still full of jargon and excess wording.

Firms are obviously not recognising the synergies a streamlined reporting method can deliver to the bottom line.

10.20am - Who runs the world? Here's the list

By Chris Kohler, BusinessNow

“There are nearly 7.2 billion people on the planet. These are the 72 who rule the world.”

That's how Forbes describes its annual ‘Most Powerful People of 2014 List', which was released today.

Four out of the top five are politicians. Take a second to see if you can pick it before looking below…

1. Vladimir Putin
2. Barack Obama
3. Xi Jinping
4. Pope Francis
5. Angela Merkel

Did you pick that? Here's a graph we posted a few weeks ago that shows why the Russian president is on top of the tables, it's all in the approval ratings:

Janet Yellen comes in at number six, with Mario Draghi nipping at her heals at eight. As expected you'll see all the familiar tech billionairs, Saudi oil kings, (more) politicians and investing gurus all in the top 15.

Looking for an Aussie face? Gina Rinehart polls at number 66.

Have a look at the full Forbes list here.

Here's one fresh entry The Times pointed out, Doug McMillon. There's a very interesting story behind this guy – he started out unloading trucks as a teenager and now he leads the world's biggest private workforce.

Here's what The Times says about him, click here for the full story.

Sometimes it pays to start small. Doug McMillon took the reins of the retail colossus in February after an entire career at Wal-Mart, starting with a summer job unloading trucks as a teen.
Today he enters Forbes magazine's annual list of the world's most powerful people, in the No. 29 spot.

At 47 he is the youngest CEO to lead the company since founder Sam Walton and heads the world's largest private workforce, with 2.2 million employees, and the most dominant company in sales, with $476 billion in annual revenue.

10.10am - Video explainer: The three main ways companies are using Luxembourg to mitigate their taxes

By now, you've likely heard the news. Working with media partners around the world, the International Consortium for Investigate Journalists have released documents revealing how over 340 global companies are using local divisions in Luxembourg to mitigate their taxes.

The group released an extensive amount of information, but if you are after a quick snapshot of their findings, here's a quick, entertaining video on the three key ways companies are using Luxembourg to reduce their global tax bills.

And to help you sift through this story, here are some key links:

9am - Interesting reads from around the web

What's the deal with that big, global tax avoidance story? Here's the original source.

Is there such a thing as too much democracy? Here's an explainer as to why the US has so many elections.

Data and science are now powering the world's most elite athletes. Here's how your workplace can benefit from their findings.

Inside our major banks' quest to defend their capital, and how the big four are channelling the same techniques seen during the anti-mining tax campaign.

Prepare for a bloodbath. The first major review of will.i.am's new smart cuff is out.

Fight or flight? The psychology behind courage, and why some people are simply wired to avoid conflict.