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, May 11, 2012

Interesting Q&A with SMH's Peter Martin on the Colebatch revelations

You can read it here. Peter and Tim are terrific blokes, and a good tag-team on policy issues. I think Peter is our only print journalist who takes online communications seriously (apologies if I am overlooking anyone). He should be recognised in the Australia Day honours alongside Stutch, Uren, and Mitchell. Haven't McCrann and Gittins already got gongs? If not, add them in too. I have not checked. They all labour to improve our understanding of the world in which we live, which, frankly, is a helluva lot more than many others. Tezza is a little tough, but he is shooting for the same end-game. The bottom-line is that these guys are fearless, and old and wise enough to understand the importance of open-minded humility. Amongst the market economists I know, Rory Robertson and Kieran Davies probably get this latter point best. Anyways, the next generation of journos--Crighton, Irvine, Shapiro etc--have big shoes to fill.