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."

Friday, November 12, 2010

Phat Dragon on Chinese credit growth

My favourite Middle Kingdom commentator, Phat Dragon, who is a mercurial character thought to be buried in the bowels of Westpac, and prone to elegant if sometimes prolix soliloquies, has this to say on Chinese credit growth:

"On the monetary side of things, new RMB loans were strikingly elevated in October. It is standard for new lending to roll off rapidly in the final quarter of the year. This time new lending hardly budged from its September level - itself an upside surprise for the market at the time of its announcement. This update puts lending on track to exceed the original target by almost 1 trillion yuan, or 2½% of GDP. Phat Dragon has been accused of boring the masses with his constant refrain that Beijing low-balled the original target. So be it."
at 9:09 AM