Interest rates up. RBA says labour market is too “tight”
The Federal Reserve did what many hoped it wouldn’t do: it raised interest rates while further emphasizing its “uncertainty” mantra. What is fraud?
The scam is that the RBA is once again saying the labor market is “a little tight” without making sure it is very tight.
The RBA’s monetary policy board announcement and the bank’s quarterly statement on monetary policy were a bit all over the place on where exactly inflation pressures were; some of it was temporary, he acknowledged, but damn, there’s a lot of “growth in private demand,” meaning people are spending money. So stop.
But the policy pain for the government behind the rate hike remains the government’s main policy pain: housing.
Leaving aside the insane cost of international travel, the rising costs of building and renting housing appear to be persistent inflationary pressures and are the nut the RBA cannot crack.
RBA rates rise isn’t exactly what commentators are crying about
It works for One Nation to claim that freezing immigration will solve the problem, and wherever Hanson goes, what remains of the parties known as the old coalition will follow.
It would be a bold move to bet that Labor won’t at least talk either.
Pessimistic forecasts for Australian inflation and unemployment
Michael Pascoe is an independent journalist and commentator with five decades of experience in print, television and online journalism here and abroad. His book, Summertime of Our Dreams, was published by Ultimo Press.
