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, October 1, 2011

McKibbin: "I don’t think there’s any chance of deflation in the US"

Some local economists, like Stephen Koukoulos, are worried about deflation and think the RBA should be slashing its cash rate to 3.5%. Warwick McKibbin was interviewed by the KGB here and asked about the risk of deflation:

"AK: In the absence of the things you’re talking about, how great do you think is the risk of deflation?

WM: Oh, I don’t think there’s any chance of deflation in the US. You’ve got central banks around the world printing money. You’ve got interest rates, nominal interest rates, very, very low. I just don’t think it’s possible. It’s very hard unless you try like the Japanese managed to achieve. It’s very hard to have a deflation. It’s much easier to have an inflation."
at 5:14 PM