The author has been described by News Ltd as an "iconoclast", "Svengali", a pollie's "economist muse", and "pungently accurate". Fairfax says he is a "Renaissance man" and "one of Australia’s most respected analysts." Stephen Koukoulas concludes that he is "85% right", and "would make a great Opposition leader." Terry McCrann claims the author thinks "‘nuance’ is a trendy village in the south of France", but can be "scintillating" when he thinks "clearly". The ACTU reckons he’s "an enigma wrapped in a Bloomberg terminal, wrapped in some apparently well-honed abs."

Saturday, November 7, 2009

RP Data-Rismark conservative

The following table from the RBA’s latest statement of monetary policy shows that the RP Data-Rismark hedonic index has the most conservative estimates of house price growth in the year-to-date (note that this is the quarterly index, not the monthly iteration). RP Data-Rismark also showed lower peak-to-trough losses in 2008 than the ABS or APM. Over and above the inherent compositional biases that afflict median price indices, they also cannot control for capital expenditure on assets or changes in housing quality over time. This likely explains why the RP Data-Rismark hedonic index gives consistently more conservative estimates of price (positive or negative) change.

at 6:27 PM