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, May 23, 2012

Westpac: current economic growth "around trend"

From Westpac today:

The annualised growth rate of the Coincident Index, which gives a pulse of current activity, was 3.1%, around its long term trend of 3.0%. The level of the Coincident Index rose from 272.4 in February to 273.7 in March. Real retail sales rose by 0.7% and employment increased by 0.3% while unemployment rate declined was unchanged.