Category Archives: Banks

Euro zone a car crash: best keep your eyes on the road

Posted on November 14, 2011 by

You know how most of the traffic created by a car crash is not the crash itself, but everyone slowing down to have a rubberneck? Well, the same thing can happen with economies. And fair enough, the unfolding car crash … Continue reading →

Posted in Banks, Budget, Currency, Employment, Gillard Government, Global Financial Crisis, Interest Rates, Mining Boom, Reserve Bank | 1 Comment

Monopoly blues: why top bosses’ riches are undeserved

Posted on November 14, 2011 by

In the hit Broadway musical How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, a young window washer discovers a book that tells him the secrets to climbing the corporate ladder. If such a book were to exist in Australia, it … Continue reading →

Posted in Banks, Employment, Global Financial Crisis | Leave a comment

Whither house prices?

Posted on August 15, 2011 by

Want to hear some good news? Amid the sharemarket turmoil, street riots and other portents of impending apocalypse, relative calm has descended on the Australian housing market. Home affordability has improved.

Posted in Banks, Employment, Housing, Interest Rates, Reserve Bank | Leave a comment

US credit rating downgrade explained

Posted on August 8, 2011 by

PERHAPS the most confusing thing about the first-ever downgrade to the credit rating of the United States government is the way it simultaneously says everything, and nothing, about the future of the world economy. In simple terms, a country’s credit … Continue reading →

Posted in Banks, Budget, Gillard Government, Interest Rates, Mining Boom, Reserve Bank | 9 Comments

The US debt crisis explained

Posted on July 29, 2011 by

Getting to grips with the long term implications of the sovereign debt debacle unfolding in the United States Congress involves understanding a lot of “d” words. Here’s a quick cheat sheet to help get you up to speed. The US … Continue reading →

Posted in Banks, Budget, Currency, Interest Rates | 9 Comments

No more flogging the debt horse

Posted on July 22, 2011 by

A golden age for Australian retailers is over. Gone. Finished. Retailers offer plenty of short-termscapegoats for their current woes: the carbon tax, the flood levy, the higher Australian dollar, higher interest rates. But, in reality, the current downturn in retail … Continue reading →

Posted in Banks, Housing, Inflation, Interest Rates | 1 Comment

Westpac’s Bill Evans’ BIG call on rate cuts

Posted on July 22, 2011 by

SMH 16-07-11: THE collapse in consumer sentiment and increasing risk of a European sovereign debt default have prompted Australia’s second-biggest bank to forecast the Reserve Bank will cut interest rates by one percentage point by the end of September 2012.

Posted in Banks, Inflation, Interest Rates, Reserve Bank | Leave a comment

Europe: WTF?!

Posted on July 15, 2011 by

You didn’t really think the global financial crisis was over, did you? While no one officially declared victory, it has become commonplace, in Australia at least, to talk of the GFC as an episode passed. But, unfortunately, the GFC is … Continue reading →

Posted in Banks, Budget | 3 Comments

the battle to keep the banks honest

Posted on February 25, 2011 by

How do you solve a problem like the banks? The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, has been trying to figure it out for three years. He’s getting closer. For all the bluster about an outbreak of “war” between the banks, with NAB … Continue reading →

Posted in Banks, Gillard Government, Interest Rates | 1 Comment

few winners in phoney bank war

Posted on February 21, 2011 by

DOES this plot line sound familiar? Boy and girl are desperately in love and want to do everything together all the time. Evil sorcerer threatens to harm boy if girl does not convince him she is no longer in love … Continue reading →

Posted in Banks, Interest Rates, Reserve Bank | 1 Comment