Questions on the NT intervention, a people’s bank, MPs’ tax and uranium-based munitions returns have emerged in Our Say’s People’s Question project
Interest rates
How a rate hike could save the banks
Australia’s banking systems have a weakness – our so-called ‘funding gap’ – and it’s time to bring that weakness into the open, given that ANZ is this week deciding whether to lift mortgage interest rates, writes Robert Gottliebsen.
RBA could increase rates if there’s a sharp rise in inflation
Lots of mea culpas this morning from business economists and media pundits who got the Reserve Bank rate decision horribly wrong yesterday, write Glenn Dyer and Bernard Keane.
Kohler: trouble in a carry trade paradise
Keynesian purists are all clutching their foreheads, but actually it’s pretty fabulous that Australia’s politicians are competing with each other to promise budget surpluses.
Wayne Swan causing a credit squeeze? Get real
Claims that Wayne Swan could hurt the banks by pressuring them to pass on rate cuts are rubbish.
Plenty of light in the doom-and-gloom retail figures
The headline fall of 0.1% in the seasonally adjusted value of retail sales for December got the “rate cut looms” mob back on the hunt this morning.
Political snippets: WIll the RBA cut the official interest rate?
The market is less confident today than it was a week ago that the Reserve Bank Board will cut the official interest rate when it meets tomorrow.
Flat inflation — cue the ‘rate cut looms’ headline
A flat inflation result for the December quarter opens the way for a rate cut, yes, but watch Greece …
IMF paper positive about Australian banking system
What is disappointing about the reporting of the IMF working paper is the absence of any critical view.
Why the RBA should hold fire on rates
The local and international economies aren’t as bad as many claim, and the RBA should hold off on cutting rates.
Joye: rate cut consensus awaits real-world momentum
After the flood-induced downdraft in housing prices, loan approvals on existing homes have been rising steadily since March. An interest rate cut is no certainty, says Christopher Joye of Property Observer.
Political snippets: Who put the fun police in charge of racing?
From the end of this month there will be new forms to fill in if you want to avoid the risk of someone else legally grabbing your horse.
Bartholomeusz: banks rattle the rates cage
Having had a week to think about ANZ’s bold move to distance itself from future Reserve Bank rate decisions, two of its peers have passed up the opportunity provided by their AGMs this week to announce they would emulate it.
Banks make huge savings thanks to cheaper local deposits
With the surge in domestic savings (running at 10%) and low demand for loans, banks have been able to build substantial deposit cushions, allowing further cuts in offshore borrowing.
Political snippets: More bad polls for Labor
The Westpac/Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment is a fitting signal for what has been an unhappy year for the Federal Government.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Black Swans and Christmas turkeys
Black Swans and Christmas turkeys: Niall Clugston writes: Re. “Power Shots: can Swan beat the banks? … biggest Power fails of 2011 …“ (yesterday, item 14). Well, in fact, Australian parliaments have all the power that previously resided with absolute monarchs. The only real restriction is the federal constitution, but that doesn’t mention interest rates. […]
podcast Canberra Calling: The Banks who stole Christmas podcast
Crikey discusses the sickly European economy and how the banks have copped a hiding in the media this week for failing to pass on the Reserve Bank’s rate cut.
Interest rate rituals and Christmas
pantomimes
Here we go again. A year on, we’re having the same debate about banking regulation.
Political snippets: Solid growth without jobs
Yesterday’s gross domestic product figures show there is no problem in Australia at the moment about economic growth.
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.
RBA takes fright at a desperate
eurozone
The RBA has cut rates in anticipation of the impact of the European crisis. Given the news out of the eurozone, it won’t be the last cut.
Mortgage, interest rate cuts war as serious as the Nullarbor Nymph
Yes, the big four: CBA, ANZ, Westpac and NAB are sitting back and waiting for one of them to bolt from cover, so they others can get a lead on how much of the 0.25% rate cut to pass on.
Media briefs: News.com.au’s Struggle St struggles …. Leveson latest … reporting armageddon …
News.com.au’s struggle street struggles … gay marriage and knowing your history …Front Page of the Day …Leveson inquiry: subterfuge can be in public interest, says Guardian reporter …
Political snippets: The so-called virtues of austerity
It seems to be the political orthodoxy in most developed country democracies these days that government spending must be cut to produce budgets that balance.
