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, September 2, 2011

Another one bites the dust...CBA shifts back next hike to Feb 2012

From CBA today:

"We still expect the next rate move to be up. But we have pushed back the timing of that move to February 2012...The policy message from the economic fundamentals has been largely obscured by the perceived policy implications of financial market volatility. Those fundamentals had the RBA toying with raising rates at the August Board meeting. And those fundamentals underlie RBA forecasts showing above‑trend economic growth and above‑target inflation over the medium term. Making a monetary policy call when markets are changing direction on a daily basis is difficult. Actually changing monetary settings in response to market fluctuations divorced from the economic fundamentals is unlikely. RBA Governor Stevens made the point in his Parliamentary testimony a few days ago when he noted policy decisions reflected not only the baseline forecasts but also the risks around those forecasts. And that it made sense to “stand still”."