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, December 11, 2010

Governor of the RBA earns only $1m pa

Enclosed below are the remuneration levels of the top RBA execs from the latest Annual Report. I have previously argued for higher pay for our politicians and public servants. There is little doubt that RBA staff could be compensated better. For example, if the Governor or any of the Assistant Governors were to take a second tier executive position at a major bank (ie, not CEO), such as head of retail banking at CBA, they would be earning around $5m pa. (I recognise that not all the AGs would be suited to such a role--spending 20yrs inside a central bank does have lasting effects!) Sadly, I would guess that the RBA's equally-capable Treasury counterparts are paid even more poorly...

at 7:13 AM