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."

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Defending the major banks on ABC's Four Corners

Four Corners had an interesting program last night on the banks. I actually spent quite a bit of time explaining what I fully supported CBA's actions to protect its balance-sheet, although I also rolled out my standard views on the subject of the guarantees. Here is what I said: (you can watch the rest clicking on the link above):

CHRIS JOYE: The CBA would be looking to try and minimise the number of corporate lending defaults that they would have had within their Bankwest book. They would be looking to mitigate their impairments. And if they have the legal right to call in loans or foreclose on loans because the borrower has not met their obligations under the loan, the CBA would quite rightly be exercising those rights, and I would support that.

at 8:15 AM