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."

Sunday, October 3, 2010

FT: Fed could move toward inflation targeting

FT's outstanding Money Supply blog reports:

"The Federal Reserve could adopt an explicit inflation target like that of the UK in order to keep up public expectations of future price rises, one of the most influential regional Fed presidents has said in a speech. Inflation targeting has long been controversial within the Fed, not least because it is hard to make compatible with the Fed’s dual mandate from Congress on growth and inflation.

William Dudley, the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said that being more explicit about the Fed’s goal “could help anchor inflation expectations at the desired rate” and “clarify the extent to which the current level of inflation falls short of that rate”."