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, September 4, 2010

Australia's savings and investment disconnect

Australia's savings ratio is higher than you would expect once you account for super. This chart from CBA shows the current financing challenge the nation faces. Long story short, we need to fund the gap between domestic savings and domestic investment via overseas money (think both debt and equity finance). It is our unusually valuable resources base that gives rise to this disconnect and ultimately our persistent current account deficit.

at 7:40 PM