I caught up with Queensland Senator Rennick, and discussed a range of important issues including the accountability and independence of the RBA, regional banking and the digital divide, the digital content bill, and finally, and importantly the role and effectiveness of democracy.
Gerard Rennick is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for Queensland since July 2019. He is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland and sits with the Liberal Party in federal parliament.
On 8 July 2023 at the LNP Annual Convention in Brisbane, Rennick lost preselection for the third position on the LNP’s senate ticket for the next federal election, after being narrowly defeated by Stuart Fraser, the party’s treasurer
On Melbourne Cup day we will get the next RBA cash rate decision. Michelle Bullocks testimony before the Senate this week was pretty vague – waiting for data, will update forecasts etc.
But as Christopher Joye writes in the AFR, following the material upside surprise to inflation in the September quarter, almost all economists and investors agree that the Reserve Bank of Australia should lift interest rates in November.
But participants worry that a concerted campaign to politically compromise Australia’s central bank may result in the RBA remarkably choosing not to seek to combat its existential inflation crisis.
This would be the latest in a chapter of accidents, with the RBA cutting rates too low, and stoking the economy via the Term Funding Facility, and Quantitative Easing. Their yield control attempts went wrong, and then they held rates way to low, promising no hike for years. And their forecasting is a disaster.
This is a central bank with a 4.1 per cent cash rate that is just a smidge above what it assesses to be the neutral rate of 3.8 per cent. And that is a cash rate that is 1.0 to 1.5 percentage points below peer rates in the US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.
Even the RBA’s outgoing assistant governor Luci Ellis, who is now chief economist at Westpac, called a “hike” only days after she predicted that inflation would not be robust enough to warrant one.
In sum, we know the RBA should hike in November. Whether it actually does or not appears to now be a question of its ability to resist political interference.
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This is an edited version of a live discussion with Research Director from The Australian Citizens Party, Robbie Barwick as we look at the contemporary issues surrounding the battle to keep cash in the economy, branch closures, the current financial settings, and the broader political and economic background.
The imperative for change has rarely been stronger, and we literally stand on the brink….
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More from our property insider Edwin Almeida, as we discuss the migration question, granny flats, risks from above 4 story high-rise, and the rental crisis. Plus we look at the latest from the WeeChat universe.
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Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.
There is a critical issue now on the table, and it relates to what the right level of migration should be. In recent times, the taps have been open more than ever before, and there are significant consequences for households, and housing affordability. Some are now calling for a significant cut in migration, others are celebrating the potential for more home prices rises, as demand outstrips supply across the country.
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Another Friday chat with Tarric Brooker, complete with charts on the housing market. We look at what is really driving the disequilibrium in the sector, and what the consequences are for people trying to access the market.
You can follow the charts here: https://avidcom.substack.com/p/dfa-chart-pack-20th-october-2023
And read Tarric’s article on housing here: https://avidcom.substack.com/p/in-australia-housing-is-the-economy
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Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog
The Great Property Paperchase... With Tarric Brooker
One stunning chart which I keep coming back to is the change in income and home prices overtime. It shows simply that housing is becoming more and more unaffordable. We also know that more households have bigger mortgages and so are heavily exposed to higher rates, and that many will still have mortgages well into retirement. Our debt ratios are some of the most extreme across the world, as I have been reporting for years. Great for banks, as they reap interest payments, bad for society. In fact, I believe we are at the point where the drawbridge is being pulled up making it harder than ever to get on to the property ladder or stay there.
Few policies are more harmful to young Australians seeking a place to live than forcing them to compete for housing with hundreds of thousands of new migrants each year.
Future Australians will have to make do with cramped shoebox homes owned by corporations and landlords.
Essentially, the property ownership drawbridge is being progressively raised – but this is by design, not accident. I hope post the voice, Albo and Co will get serious about correcting their mistakes, but frankly I am not holding my breath.
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Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.
This is an edited version of a live discussion with Cameron who republished his book from 2017 Game of Mates: How favours bleed the nation as Rigged “How Networks Of Powerful Mates Rip Off Everyday Australians”.
This book will open your eyes to how Australia really works. It’s not good news, but you need to know it.’ – Ross Gittins
‘You’ll be shocked at how far the Mates have their hand in your pocket.’ – Nicholas Gruen
Australia has become one of the most unequal societies in the Western world, when just a generation ago it was one of the most equal. This is the story of how networks of Mates have come to dominate business and government, robbing ordinary Australians.
Every hour you work, thirty minutes of it goes to line the Mates’ pockets rather than your own. Mates in big corporations, industry groups, government departments, the halls of parliament and the media skew the system to suit each other. Corporations dodge taxes, so you pay more. You pay more for your house and higher interest rates on your mortgage, more for your medicines and transport, and more for your children’s education and insurance, because the Mates take a cut.
Rigged uncovers the pattern of political favours, grey gifts and information-sharing that has been allowed to build up over two decades. Drawing on extensive economic research, it exposes the Game of Mates as nothing less than cronyism on a grand scale across Australia and how we have fallen behind other countries in combating it.
We also discuss housing policy and economics in general.
Dr Cameron K. Murray was a Research Fellow in the Henry Halloran Trust at the University of Sydney and an economist specialising in property and urban development, environmental economics, rent-seeking and corruption. Professor Paul Frijters teaches at the London School of Economics and was previously Professor of Health Economics at the University of Queensland. He is now an independent economist.
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Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog
DFA Live Q&A HD Replay: Cameron Murray: Mates, Power, Politics & Economics
The latest edition with our property insider Edwin Almeida. We look at the latest “plans” to boost housing, celebrate a 60th anniversary, dissect the latest numbers, and explore why investor property is not working for so many investors as they chose to sell.
http://www.martinnorth.com/
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.
If you are buying your home in Sydney’s contentious market, you do not need to stand alone. This is the time you need to have Edwin from Ribbon Property Consultants standing along side you.
Buying property, is both challenging and adversarial. The vendor has a professional on their side.
Emotions run high – price discovery and price transparency are hard to find – then there is the wasted time and financial investment you make.
Edwin understands your needs. So why not engage a licensed professional to stand alongside you. With RPC you know you have: experience, knowledge, and master negotiators, looking after your best interest.
My latest Friday afternoon chat with journalist Tarric Brooker, as we look at the RBA’s latest Statement On Monetary Policy, and the recent Bond Market dynamics.
And we look at the economic fall out on households if rates go higher for longer. Tarric’s charts can be found at: https://avidcom.substack.com/p/dfa-chart-pack-6th-october-2023
http://www.martinnorth.com/
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog
Laughing Or Weeping, We’re Back: With Tarric Brooker!
