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, December 9, 2011

Stevens: is this the beginning of a deflationary or inflationary cycle?

Glenn raises the question of our time. You know my view, which remains unalloyed:

" I think they would have expected the response of major central banks to the crisis to have resulted in more inflation than it has, so far. That may be a reflection of the inflationary times in which they were writing – when it seemed almost inconceivable that deflationary problems akin to the 1930s could re-emerge. The example of Japan, where there has been deflation for well over a decade, had not yet occurred in 1982. Of course, they might just have expected the inflation still to be coming. They would not be alone in that view."

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at 11:00 PM