Rudd’s essay is on the money

Published in July 27th, 2009

Posted by Cassander in Australia, Debtwatch, Great Depression, RBA

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has followed up his critique of neoliberalism with a new essay in the Sydney Morning Herald on the causes of the crisis, and the policies needed after recovery.
With one exception, his key explanations for the crisis are the same as those identified by myself and the handful of other economists [...]

Talk to the Fabian Forum: The Global Financial Crisis: How bad will it get?

Published in April 13th, 2009

Posted by Steve Keen in Debtwatch, Money dynamics, RBA

169 Comments

Broadcast on March 11 2009 by ABC Radio National Big Ideas
A blog member has kindly produced a transcript of the off-the-cuff talk I gave at this forum. I’ve made minor corrections to the punctuation below, but the text is otherwise as delivered on the night without speaking notes–so there are some grammatical slips. For those [...]

Steve Keen’s Debtwatch No. 33 April 2009: Lies, Damned Lies, and Housing Statistics

Published in April 6th, 2009

Posted by Steve Keen in Australia, Debtwatch, RBA

146 Comments

“Lies, damned lies, and statistics” is part of a phrase attributed to Benjamin Disraeli and popularised in the United States by Mark Twain: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” The statement refers to the persuasive power of numbers, the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments, and the tendency of [...]

“It’s just a flesh wound…”

Published in March 17th, 2009

Posted by Steve Keen in Debtwatch, Money dynamics, RBA

127 Comments

It seems we’ve moved from Stanley Kubrick to John Cleese. Rory Robertson’s reply to my “Rory Robertson Designs a Car” post reminds me of one of my many favourite scenes from Monty Python, the fight between King Arthur and the Black Knight:
King Arthur: [after Arthur's cut off both of the Black Knight's arms] Look, you stupid [...]

I do not know anyone who predicted this course of events…

Published in December 10th, 2008

Posted by Steve Keen in Australia, RBA

20 Comments

Several people have commented on the speech by Glenn Stevens (for international readers, Stevens is the Governor of Australia’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia) yesterday in which he commented, inter alia, that:
“I do not know anyone who predicted this course of events. This should give us cause to reflect on how hard a [...]

Always look on the bright side of … economic data?

Published in November 12th, 2008

Posted by Steve Keen in Australia, RBA

114 Comments

If things are really grim, it helps to have an indefatigable nature, and there’s no doubt that RBA Deputy Governor Ric Battellino has that in spades—at least in the speeches he makes at public conferences. Were I being crucified, I’d like to have Ric up there with me, singing “Cheer up Brian!…”, to take my [...]

Debtwatch 27 October 08: The Failure of Central Banks

Published in October 6th, 2008

Posted by Steve Keen in Australia, Debtwatch, RBA, USA

69 Comments

Just two years ago, Central Banks appeared triumphant. Inflation, the scourge of the 1970s and 80s, appeared dead, the financial crisis of the Tech Wreck had been contained, economies worldwide were booming, and stock markets and house prices were spiralling ever upwards.
Then along came the Subprime Crisis, and we received a rude reminder of why [...]

DebtWatch No 26 September 2008: Losing control of the margin?

Published in September 2nd, 2008

Posted by Steve Keen in Australia, Debtwatch, RBA

48 Comments

Late last year on SBS News, when Stan Grant asked me which way the RBA would move rates in 2008, I replied “Up, and then down”, Stan quipped “Spoken like a true economist–an even handed answer!”–to which I replied “More down than up”.
I expected the intial rate rises because of the RBA’s focus on the [...]

Defer the RBA “Enhanced Independence” Act

Published in May 5th, 2008

Posted by Steve Keen in Australia, Debtwatch, RBA

14 Comments

Steve Keen’s DebtWatch No 22 May 2008
The Reserve Bank Amendment (Enhanced Independence) Bill 2008, which was tabled in Parliament in March, aims to give the RBA Governor and Deputy Governor “the same level of statutory independence as the Commissioner of Taxation and the Australian Statistician” (Wayne Swann, Hansard, Thursday, 20 March 2008, p. 2381).
Under the [...]