Inflation

It’s probably too late in the cycle to hike rates any further when what’s desperately needed is tax, spending and regulatory reform.

Interest rates have come down in Canada and the eurozone. When will Australia follow suit?

Australia’s March quarter inflation figures came in above expectations. Especially worrying was the sticky services and non-tradables inflation, making rate cuts very unlikely this year. To fix inflation we desperately need fiscal policy to start working with monetary policy, rather than against it.

How are interest rates affecting Australia; merger reform and misunderstanding competition; India’s Modi and policy uncertainty; and does Australia need parliamentary reform?

Inflation should be the highest policy priority; Bayesian reasoning and the Wuhan lab leak; the urgent need for economic reform; how to reduce debt, Jamaica style; and even when wrong, models can be useful.