Whatever would we do without a round of bank bashing stories this time of year, when all other news content is reduced to How to Baste Your Turkey and Top Ten Top Tens of 2011…
Big four
Bank stand-off over interest rate cut
Crikey media wrap: The Reserve Bank’s decision to cut interest rates by 0.25% earlier this week has turned into a stand-off with ANZ the only one of the Big Four banks to pass the cuts on to customers.
Should the property market tumble, taxpayers will foot the bill
Let’s say it again … the big four banks did not save Australia from the global financial crisis.
More pulp fiction from the banks
There is nothing more profitable for the banks than confusion about what they do, writes Dr Richard Denniss, executive director of The Australia Institute.
World markets take headshots over China inflation, Ireland meltdown
Since last Friday the world financial markets have taken some major blows.
Australia, Ireland parallels: watch out, there’s something in the Eire
Australians should look very closely at the terrible situation occurring in Ireland, particularly since most remain blissfully ignorant of the dire state of the global economy.
Schwab: Gottliebsen got it wrong on bank executives
Perhaps Business Spectator’s legendary columnist Robert Gottliebsen isn’t reading Steve Keen’s columns (or these ones) particularly closely. If he did, he probably wouldn’t be blaming the bankers’ communication skills for their current public relations foibles.
Aussie banks let off the global capital, liquidity rules hook
Australian banks look like they will escape the full weight of the new, stringent global capital and liquidity rules.
Hockey proves it doesn’t pay to take policy risks
Yet again serious policy is being overlooked in favour of the media’s obsession with personalities and internal politics. No wonder we have a reform drought.
Who says banks too big to fail? We need a warts-and-all inquiry
We have had piecemeal probes, but they are just examinations at the edge. A a wider inquiry is needed and it should be independent, not parliamentary, with the powers of a Royal Commission merely to make sure that everyone attends and takes it seriously.
APRA says our Big Four banks ‘too big to fail’
Tomorrow, the Reserve Bank produces the first financial stability report for 2010 and it is expected to be solid, without anything to frighten the still-skittish horses in the financial paddocks.
Joye: What’s the difference between CBA and Fannie Mae?
Very little, says Christopher Joye. Just like the once-epic financial institution, our big banks are “too big to fail” — if they go down, so does our economy. Taxpayers will continue to subsidise them, even though they will continue to screw us over.
Mayne: Bowen is right on Sons of Gwalia
Despite all the bleating by class-action lawyers and the Australian Shareholders’ Association, the government’s decision to overturn the Sons of Gwalia High Court decision is no great disaster.
Forget mortgage holders, every rate rise hurts business
Why is the media so fixated on mortgage holders? More concerning is how much power the Big Four banks now hold over the economy, and how SMEs are struggling to get finance.
ANZ out-gouges the NAB
Like the NAB, the ANZ has survived the financial crisis looking rudely health. Which is impressive, considering it suffered more damage from self-inflicted lending disasters than any of the Big Four.
Housing: the market continues to astound
The most obvious problem with the first-home-owner’s grant is that it doesn’t actually benefit home buyers, since most recipients of the grant will probably be in competition with each other.
Big banks grow fatter at taxpayer expense
The Federal Government’s guarantee for Australian bank deposits and borrowings has done its work. It’s time to scrap it.
If you thought RBA rate cuts saved you money, think again
A little known fact: when the RBA cuts rates, the Big Four don’t pass those cuts on to customers automatically for up to a year. So much for stimulating the economy, writes David Langsam, editor of Biotech Daily.
How to re-design the Australian banking sector
Now that we have established that banks can’t fail in Australia, we need to redesign the regulatory environment. Glenn Dyer offers some thoughts to kick off the conversation.
Aussie Banks are crying poor but spending big
In a time of severe economic turmoil, when banks can’t afford to pass on in-full a rate cut, they shouldn’t be allowed to buy up their competitors, argues Glenn Dyer.
Eslake: Why Australian Banks are standing strong
Crikey asked Saul Eslake, Chief Economist with the ANZ Bank, to detail why Australia’s financial giants are in a more comfortable position than their international counterparts.
