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."

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Is setting rates harder with out-of-cycle bank changes. Errr, well, sort of...

Good ole Guy Debelle being frank in a central banker kinda way:

"At the moment we happen – there happens to be a focus on one particular part of the transmission mechanism, which is a lot – which isn’t as tight 15 as it was in the past. And if you think about, say – I mean, if you think about the Fed, right, most US mortgages are 30 year fixed so the Fed is operating an instrument at the front end of the curve to effect a 30 year borrowing rate. We at least have the luxury of operating at the front end of the curve to affect mortgage rates, which is broadly driven, or lending rates more generally, which are broadly 20 driven off the front end of the curve. The fact that that relationship is not exactly one for one makes our life a little harder than it otherwise would be, but it’s a hell of a lot easier than in a lot of other countries."
at 6:04 PM