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."

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Aussie at 102.5 US cents: down > 5% from March highs (chart)

This is great news for all those industry sectors claiming to be dragged-down by the appreciating Aussie dollar. With the latest NAB Business Survey data for March once again suggesting the economy is travelling close to trend, ANZ's job ads series healthy, and two rate cuts in November and December that have yet to have their full effect on the economy, the additional bonus of a 5% depreciation in the currency is akin to another partial rate cut. The RBA likes to refer to the exchange rate or TWI as a great big "shock absorber", which takes pressure off the central bank to reflexively tool around with interest rates. Just like it did with inflation in 2010-11, the falling exchange rate is doing the hard-yakka for the RBA on the downside, assuming that downside ever materialises...

at 6:56 AM