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.
Reserve bank
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.
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 …
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.
Interest rate rituals and Christmas
pantomimes
Here we go again. A year on, we’re having the same debate about banking regulation.
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.
Inflation down — but does it mean a rate cut?
Inflationary pressures are easing again — but it’s the European crisis that will occupy the RBA board next week, not domestic issues, write Glenn Dyer and Bernard Keane.
Political snippets: A demo too far for Abbott
I’m sure it was a mistake for the Opposition Leader to associate himself with the blockading truck drivers around Canberra’s Parliament House this morning.
Joye: clash of the asset classes
What’s been the best store of wealth over the past decade? It’s a question I will seek to quickly address today, writes Christopher Joye.
Bartholomeusz: tougher times for a wary Westpac
While Westpac’s third quarter numbers were slightly disfigured by an unexpected blip in its impairment charges, there was nothing in the update that challenged the view that conditions for the major banks are getting tougher.
As RBA mulls interest rates, housing decline is accelerating
Another rate rise might accelerate a decline in construction activity that shows no sign of slowing down.
Political snippets: PM a late convert to carbon pricing
At least some of Julia Gillard’s declining popularity can be put down to a belief by many voters that she is a politician who stands for nothing but keeping the Prime Minister’s job.
Yes, floods and Yasi will push up the price of some foods
Sometimes you wonder if some journalists read very much, especially the speeches and reports issued by the Reserve Bank.
Australia now needs to fill a $130 billion dollar hole
Around 40 of Australia’s biggest financial deposit taking groups will get lender of last resort facilities from the Reserve Bank, just as banks did years ago, and just as they did in the December quarter of 2008 when the GFC was shutting down world and local markets.
Political snippets: A grim set of numbers
You have to wonder whether the Reserve Bank has grievously overdone it with its interest rate rises this year.
Political snippets: Banks’ signals make things clear
You have got to love the ingenuity of politicians and public officials when they fell under pressure to be seen by the public to be doing something about a problem.
The two-speed rate rise risk
There are two interest rate hike decisions in the pipeline for today and later in the week. There are considerable risks behind both these decisions, writes Robert Gottliebsen.
And then there were three waiting in the wings…
Call it the MIT Mafia, but there are now three senior officials at the Reserve Bank, including two leading candidates for the governorship, who all obtained their PhDs at the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in the US.
‘Rate rise looms’ mob should expect the unexpected from the RBA
One of the oddities of reporting on what the Reserve Bank and its senior officials say each month is that each utterance is treated as “new” news when in fact they are quite often part of a continuing narrative.
Commodity export prices the interest rate driving force
The acceleration in commodity prices for Australian exports is driving something unheard of, the second surge in our terms of trade and national income from the China boom in three years.
Inflation up, housing costs the driver
Thanks to the rising cost of housing, inflation is stirring, enough to get the Reserve Bank a little twitchy ahead of next Tuesday’s monthly board meeting.
Stevens opens up, and does the Coalition no favours
Glenn Stevens was slightly more expansive than normal yesterday, and the Opposition was the loser.
US Fed hints at rate rises: Stevens warns of comeback challenge
The US Federal Reserve is hinting the days of record-low interest rates may be over. Meanwhile, Australian’s Reserve Bank governor is warning of the challenges of an economy in expansion.
