23 April 2023
The RBA Review Had Surprising Omissions
A report that recommended profound changes lacked any evidence to show it was not a set of solutions in search of a problem. The long-awaited review of the Reserve Bank, released to the public last Thursday, had few surprises yet had surprising omissions. For a report that recommended profound changes to the central bank, it lacked any evidence that these changes are,
22 September 2022
Stage Three Tax Cut Debate Will Be Cancelled
This article was originally published in The Australian Financial Review on or about 22 September 2022. In the article, John Roskam explained the consequences of the Stage Three Tax Cut in the context of the findings of the IPA’s research into Australia’s level of national debt and how that affects Australia’s economic freedom and prosperity. Labor running a ‘big national
1 April 2021
Why Are We Letting The Reserve Bank Make Housing Less Affordable?
It speaks volumes to the lack of ambition in the federal government that it took a first-term senator on the backbench to identify and speak out about one of the most significant public policy challenges facing Australians. While the government has failed to deliver modest industrial relations reform and is now suffering in the culture war it insists doesn’t exist, Senator Gerard Rennick has his finger on the pulse when it comes to
19 October 2020
The Reserve Bank’s Great Gamble On Interest Rates
The fiscal path outlined in the federal budget will constrain monetary policy and undermine the stability of the Australian economy. The Reserve Bank of Australia will be forced to pursue expansionary monetary policy that will leave it impotent in the event of future economic headwinds. The RBA’s decade-long experiment with record low interest rates has created an economy that is dependent on low
24 March 2020
Quantitative Easing: A Desperate Move With No Clear End Game
The Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to engage in quantitative easing is a desperate move with no clear end game. While QE has been precipitated by the public health response to coronavirus, the radical nature of the response is a result of a weakening economy on the back of more than a decade of failed monetary policy. After cutting the cash rate from
13 March 2020
The Very Last Thing We Need Is Radical Reserve Bank Action
The Reserve Bank of Australia has used the coronavirus threat to accelerate its move toward radical monetary policy. To prevent further distortions to the Australian economy the government should lower the RBA’s inflation target that is driving economically harmful intervention. Last year, RBA Governor Philip Lowe tested the waters with talk of quantitative easing and negative interest rates with the
18 October 2019
Reserve Runs Out Of Ideas To Stimulate The Economy
The Reserve Bank’s extended low interest rate policy and consideration of “unconventional monetary policy tools” reveals a lack of self-reflection and a commitment to a model that is unsustainable. This month the RBA continued its 84-month unprecedented experiment with low interest rates, setting a record low 0.75 per cent. Since October 2012, every interest rate decision has held or set
16 August 2019
What Are These Central Banks Up To?
It’s funny how in such a supposedly egalitarian country as Australia we pay so much deference to public servants. We pay them a lot (much more than their overseas counterparts), we give them a lot of power, and perhaps most important of all, we hardly ever question what they do. The attitude of politicians, the business community, and most of
