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."

Monday, January 24, 2011

Australia's budget deficit running larger than expected

RBS's economists report:

"The risk of a delayed return to surplus already seems possible in that the monthly Budget data show that the deficit was running at annual rate of $60bn as at November, larger than the $42bn deficit the Commonwealth is forecasting for 2010-11 as a whole. Crudely seasonally adjusting the monthly data provides a finer perspective on the trend in the Budget bottom-line and suggests that the deficit is running at an annualised rate of about $53bn. This is smaller than the calculation made using the raw data, but it is still above the Government’s current forecast...this would indicate that fiscal policy may be too loose given the strength of the economy."

at 8:16 AM