The Reserve Bank will now be run by a woman.

Women are most likely replacing men in the media, in business, sport - and just about everywhere else - because they are more easily managed by the schemers employing them (in this case a meddling, Socialist government): less likely to speak up and kick over the traces. Nothing to do with equality or 'doing-the-right-thing'.

Michele Bullock has been named as the new governor
of the Reserve Bank of Australia and is the first woman
to lead the central bank. She is replacing Philip Lowe
whose term expires on 17th September.

Michele Bullock has a BA in economics from the University
of New England (1984) and a Master's from the London School
of Economics (1989). Her London School of Economics masters
was under Charles Goodhart, one of the world's leading
monetary policy experts. Apparently Goodhart was most
impressed with her.

She's had close to four decades experience with our national
institution and most knowledgeable economic experts agree
that she is eminently qualified for the job. She's been
described as an "accomplished economist" with wide experience
with the RBA - most recently as the deputy governor and
deputy chair of the Payment Systems Board.

It's good to see the government acknowleging the valuable
contribution of the previous Chief - Philip Lowe. And
now it's equally good to see someone being promoted on merit,
qualifications, and experience. It seems that times are
changing for many.

Thanks Foxy. That tells me she has no experience in industry or private enterprise, so no understanding of how it works.

Yet another academic/bureaucrat who will run the thing from the position of Canberra, & continue with Albo in stuffing the country, when we need people who know what is involved in running a business, not an academic cloister.

Just a quick look at the mess Queensland has become should tell anyone with an ounce of common sense that more girls club is the last thin we need.

Dear Hasbeen,

She's held a variety of senior management positions
in the Bank and is more than qualified to be its Chief.
She's also coming into the job with a multimillion
dollar property portfolio. Do your research on her.
It is impressive.

Philip Lowe was far more qualified than Michele Bullock. The reason he was not reappointed was that he did the job he was supposed to in raising interest rates to counter Labor's created inflation.

Hopefully, Michele Bullock is not a Labor lackey and can maintain the independence of the RBA.

Dear Shadow Minister,

Labor-created inflation?

I won't insult your intelligence by assuming that you
really believe the BS you're spouting.

SM

Yes. Lowe did do his job. He did what he had to do because of the inflation caused by the spending of the Morrison government during Covid, and now the Albanese government, spending like drunken sailors to bribe the gullible, and disguise their extreme, totalitarian, Socialist agenda.

Labor-created inflation?
Foxy,
Yes but I'd call Socialist instead of Labor as this isn't just an Australian outcome, it's a world-wide mess !

Foxy,

I'll small words since you clearly don't know economics.

The inflation in Jan 2022 was 3.5% in April/May at election time it jumped to 5.1% up to this point, Labor had always been calling on the government to spend more. This is the point at which inflation could have been nipped in the bud.

The two tools to do this are:
1 Using fiscal policy, i.e. the government cuts down spending. This is the simplest and quickest and entirely in government control.
2 Using monetary policy i.e. the RBA raises interest rates and people cut down spending.

Labor ramped up spending and boosted inflation to new highs leaving the RBA to do the dirty work by ramping up interest rates as the cost of living shot up.

The high inflation and interest rates could have been mitigated but Labor chose not to do so. The result is entirely due to Labor's ineptitude.

Economics is a misnomer, it really is just public coffer manipulation & misappropriation in favour of those who already accumulated more than their merit would enable them to do.
The whole system from Taxation to wrongly named economics is a Govt sanctioned manipulation !

The ALP has been in government for barely 12 months. Even if they had pulled every anti-inflation lever available to them from day one (eg massive spending cuts, massive taxes increases etc) to suck money out of the economy, we'd still be seeing inflation at these high levels today.

The powers available to a government to combat inflation are primarily fiscal ie cut government spending, decrease the money supply. But these aren't spigots....you can't just turn off the taps and see immediate change. These things need to work through the system and take a long time to have measurable effects.

The inflation we see today was the result of years of profligacy and slack fiscal policy by the previous government under both Turnbull and Morrison. While its very true that the then ALP opposition weren't calling for an end to the profligacy, its hardly their fault that it occurred.

The Australian people are paying the price for their enthusiastic support, in the main, for the lockdown mania and all that entailed, including massive government spending to pay people to stay at home and cease any productive work. But they don't want to hear that so the search for scapegoats is on. But the current government is the wrong scpegoat.

All that said, it is also true that the current government is doing very little to fight inflation and will therefore be justly culpable in a year or two if inflation isn't conquered - which will almost certainly be the case.

These problems abound throughout the world. Of the two broad levers available to fight inflation - fiscal and monetary policy - fiscal is now off the table. No government is in a position to run sustained government surpluses by cutting spending and/or increasing taxes. There is no political will to adopt any of those measures so the entire anti-inflationary stance falls to monetary policy.

The ALP will be rightly blamed for whatever inflation is around come the next election, but can't fairly be blamed for any such problems a mere year into its tenure.

As to Lowe, well he's the ultimate sacrificial lamb, carrying the load for all the errors made by the political class.

Given that no government was ever going to do what was required on the fiscal front to right economy, the RBA was forced to make interest rate policy do all the work.

But the populace don't like the medicine and attack the doctor. Somehow they think there is some other way to attack inflation that will be painless and whine when no such miracle is forthcoming.

To be sure, Lowe screwed up a year back with his inflation and interest rate forecasts. But he wasn't alone there with most central bankers around the world making similar errors. It'll take several years of economic and psychological analysis to understand why that was the case.

But having recognised the error, he moved to fix it. Interest rates were always going to be forced up -it was just a question of timing. He went later than he should have but the results are really the same.

So, Lowe, unfairly blamed for the errors of the political class, is gone. Let's hope the new governor fares better. But you should note that she's not talking at all about a change of policy - because high interest rates is the only policy possible.

As per Joel Kotkin (The Coming of Neo Feudalism', 2020) we are heading for a more hierarchical and stagnant society, with class immobility and immense concentrations of wealth at the top, leading to a 'serflike' status for the majority of the population.

What we say doesn't matter a lot. Despite blogs and social media giving the 'appearance' of information democracy, a small hierarchy controls the flow, and wants to do more, via the alarming censorship Bill soon to be tabled by Albanese.

Albanese wants to beat the 'Third Estate' into submission. To replace values of self-determination, family and community with the "authority of 'experts' ".

This new feudalism is creating a society, where more people can't afford to buy houses, pay the rent, pay for groceries or much else.

Does anyone really believe that the political class cares about inflation, cost of living or the peasants?

In the Middle Ages, when feudalism ruled, the peasants did actually revolt. It's time for us to revolt now, starting with voting NO to the Voice, before it's too late.

I think that mhaze has summed things up rather well.
I don't believe that much will change under the new
Chief. And Philip Lowe was unpopular and had to go.

During the regime of the previous LNP coalition government, the then Minister for Finance, Nathias Cormann admitted that the government believed high unemployment was a necessary tool to limit inflation. Subsequently the government actively pursued this objective. High unemployment allowed ministers to exploit the inaccurate narrative of ‘dole bluggers’ resulting in the inhumane and cowardly Robodebt scandal.

I’m terrified to hear talk, once again, of increasing the rate of unemployment to help control inflation. Whoever is in control of the RBA (be it man or woman) must never utter this concept ever again and persuade politicians of the same

It's hard to believe that any government would inccease unemployment for any reason. But, mass immigration (700,000 more people coming over the next two years) and making business too expensive because of expensive electricity, sending what's left of our industry to China, capping the price of gas and reducing investment, and all the Socialist incompetence and ignorance, should do the trick.

Foreign student visas have hit a 10 year high: half a million. The Coalition was also involved in allowing over 50,000 foreign students to stay here permanently. There will be more, adding to the 700,000, mainly Third World country escapees.

We have big problems with our political class, and their hidden string-pullers - not with the immigrants they are encouraging to come here, who naturally want a better life, which they might not get, given the number of them coming here putting pressure on already overcome housing and infrastructure.

Recently, 8 million university graduates in China started applying for jobs, only to find that there was nothing available to them, apart from work they could have got if they skipped university and went straight into from school. That's why they want to come here; but it won't be long before the same situation exists here, as it does in China, as the Albanese becomes more like THE CCP, and the Opposition is useless.

Lets look at the positives.

On foreign policy the Albanese government has made some
big strides. It has reset the dialogue with discussion lines
open again not only with Asia and the Pacific but Penny Wong
has initiated valuable efforts to strengthen relationships
with neighbouring nations that barely raised a blip on the
previous government's radar.

It's repaired the rift with France - and at home the government
has tackled the problem of rapidly raising energy costs by
locking in legislation to cap domestic wholesale prices of
coal and gas.

Unemployment is the lowest for many decades at 3.4%.
Australian international borders are open again allowing the
return of tourists and foreign students and providing a
gateway to fill skill shortages.

Reducing government debt and limiting inflationary pressures
while ensuring government services are delivered fully will
of course test all ministries. But the PM and his team has
changed the mood of the nation. He and his team has purseud
constructive negotiations across parliamentary benches.
Lets hope that this continues for the success of us all.

Foxy,

What tangible benefits other than feel-good virtue signalling have been achieved in the last year?

Unemployment has remained relatively unchanged since Labor took power,

Energy prices have skyrocketed,
Food, mortgage and rent costs have shot up,

There is not a promise that Albozo hasn't broken.