In an otherwise clear, insightful, and useful speech regarding the use of macroprudential tools – and why – the Reserve Bank states the following While the Reserve Bank’s mandate is to promote financial stability, not social equity, there are clear implications here for housing affordability. As house prices and debt levels trend increasingly upwards, so […]
Britmouse over at uneconomical has this golden quote: Those who assert that households “need” to deleverage (which is really an argument about expected future income) must address the question of the desired level of leverage. Is 144% too high or too low; how should we decide where to draw the line? Should we let central […]
I note Gareth Morgan is discussing the idea of an independent tax authority. On paper I don’t disagree, I’ve seen similar sentiments pop up in 2009 and 2011 😉 As mentioned in the 2011 piece though, the idea of what is “democratic” is important. Recently we touched on this by discussing the appropriate scope for […]
Via Justin Wolfers on twitter comes this excellent quote – an answer to “what is your outlook on the markets and the economy”: I think it is of much greater value to be able to put the current situation into broader context, via a variety of variables and factors, than make guesses about the future. […]
Ahh I see two Tyler Cowen posts up in the past 24 hours that I have to list down for future reference: On the jump in bond rates as the Fed suggested a tapering in QE was in sight. On the differences of views between the economics community and economics blogs. I would note a […]
I see that the Bank for International Settlements has released their latest annual report. I have not read it, but will place it here to peek at later. However, if this (great) post from Ryan Avent is to be believed, it sounds like I will not like this report very much. I’d also note that […]