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, July 17, 2012

Macquarie/Westpac see unemployment rate hitting 6%

Question whether this analysis is a bit backward looking. Macquarie and Westpac have been consistently very bearish on the domestic economy, which has not been borne out in the GDP or unemployment data. Nevertheless, they got the first leg of interest rate cuts right. Business Spectator reports:

A Macquarie senior economist has warned that Australia's unemployment rate could top six per cent in 2013, saying that the country's jobless rate is rising faster than official figures indicate, according to The Age...Mr Redican's view was bolstered by Westpac senior economist Justin Smirk. “Our measures of unemployment expectation by households suggests unemployment should be much higher than it is,” he said, according to The Age. Westpac expects the jobless rate to hit 5.8 per cent early in 2013.
at 6:26 AM