Monetary policy, wages and Australian economic “exceptionalism”

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One has to feel a little bit of sympathy for RBA Governor Philip Lowe. Some straightforward and economically incontestable commentary regarding wage growth and inflation and the desirability of linking

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Fed FOMC minutes: smaller steps to a higher peak; Fed and markets aligne

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Wednesday night’s release of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) FOMC meeting minutes indicate that the Fed and financial markets are close to alignment on their expectations for peak policy rate of

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A tale of two central banks and Australian labour force data expected to show continued tight labour market conditions

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A tale of two central banks The Federal Reserve (Fed) Last week’s release of the US October consumer price index (CPI) and this week’s release of the US October producer

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Outsize September quarter CPI poses some ‘awkward optics’ for the RBA

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As has occurred throughout the developed country complex, Australia’s September quarter consumer price index (CPI) surprised on the upside. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) minutes from the October meeting note that

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RBA judgement that policy rate increments are “finely balanced” and UK records a double digit 40 year-high in inflation

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Tuesday’s release of Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) meeting minutes from the October meeting note that the decision between moving the policy rate by 25 basis points versus 50 basis

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US bond yields still pondering the three-pronged fork and NAB Monthly Business Survey points to upside risk in RBA inflation forecast

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Not unexpectedly, and resilience in the labour market notwithstanding, US activity data appears to be responding to Fed policy rate hikes and the recent hawkish tack from Fed officials. Market

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RBA increases 25 basis points: certainly defensible but risks “awkward optics”

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A little surprisingly in my view the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Board meeting today decided on a downshift in the size of the policy increment from 50 basis points

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The Fed has the “cleanest dirty shirt” approach to monetary policy

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BoE intervention is not sustainable In Kris Kristofferson’s famous ballad Sunday Morning Coming Down (of course, popularised by the late Johnny Cash) the protagonist speaks of one Sunday morning, after a particularly

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US August inflation surprises on the upside and the RBA’s policy rate increment unlikely as domestic inflation remains sticky

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US August inflation surprised on the upside. ‘Headline’ inflation came in at 8.3 per cent (versus 8.1 per cent expected) while ‘core’ inflation registered 6.3 per cent (versus 6.1 per

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Jackson Hole: summer soporifics to the summertime blues

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The tone in financial markets through July and the first half of August suggested that markets were growing increasingly confident that the world’s central banks had the inflation beast (almost)

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