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."

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Employment and AUD soar

From Dow Jones:

"SYDNEY (Dow Jones)--Australia's jobs market continued to surge in September when it added 49,500 new jobs, a figure which sent the currency to fresh two-year highs and piles pressure on the central bank to resume its tightening policy.

The sterling jobs numbers, released Thursday, underscore Australia's position as one of the world's strongest developed economies with a pressing need to contain demand at a time many of its peers are toying with extending emergency stimulus measures to kick-start growth.

After stunning economists with its decision to leave rates unchanged at 4.50% this week for the fifth consecutive month, the robust labor market means the Reserve Bank of Australia will likely have to move again soon in order to contain a surging economy on the back of a China-driven mining boom.

The Australian dollar rocketed to a fresh 26-month high on the release of the data, hitting US$0.9844, having traded US$0.9763 beforehand. Front end bond futures tumbled, losing 14 points to 95.02."