TBC in a forum such as this we kid ourselves that all views have value.
Nice if true but it is some times a lie.
Forelock pulling to my party.
Can you truly think that?
Now be fair dinkum am I to regard your posts as your thoughts or your party's.
They come from you surely.
This thread questions a man I thought more of, he in one statement suggests undoing years of reform bank financial, business our country's very future is threatened by silliness.
In fact some within my party are DEEPLY offended by my view that NSW Labor is dead,oh yes sections will get new life, new spring in the feet, and return to government in the next election.
But as always, I stand for my party and its roots, in this case people from all walks of life who do not want conservative government.
But have no choice but to eat the elephant in March.
Last minute attempts to win those people back insult us all, an effort two years ago would not have.
So TBC if you want me to value your opinions think about our posts.

The big banks have the freedom to follow their own interest rate policy is because during the GFC, the loan guarantees the Rudd government gave only to the banks wiped out the competition.

Joe Hockey called for Wayne Swan to take action on the gouging by the big banks which could include legislation. He did not actually call to legislate interest rates, this was a deliberate misinterpretation by Wayne Swan.

An action that Labor could follow would be to help restore the competition that they wiped out.

If Joe had been talking about introducing some more competition into banking, then he might have had a viable argument, but he specifically addressed the issue of interest rates. Even so, you can't guarantee that banks will set rates at a level which equates to the one set by the RBA. They are a retailer, and like any retailer have to take into account their cost of goods, no matter how much competition there is. And we wouldn't want to go back to the era when Keating let all the foreign banks in and they made reckless loans in an effort to buy market share.

TBC, political parties change over time. I well remember the Fraser era and he wasn't all that popular within the Liberal Party at the time. It was at the end of his period when there was pressure to open up the economy. Many of us had come to the conclusion that trying to restrict lending and exchange rates was actually hurting the people it was supposed to be helping.

The same process was going on in the Labor Party. Fraser has never understood economics that well and would prefer to try to tell people what to do than to let them do it for themselves. It's the wrong approach and introduces all sorts of problems.

For example, you can keep interest rates artificially low, but it has an effect on your capital account. Life gets very difficult if you try to maintain a high exchange rate at the same time. And in the end, the market rules, but you damage a whole lot of businesses who draw up their plans on the basis that you can deliver what you say you can, when you can't.

While everyone knows Mr Hockey is blowing hot air it seems rather trivial then the consistent half truths or lies that our PM tells. Whether it is releasing children from motels (razor wire) or not putting a price on carbon or being in coalition with the Greens. Yes Jo is being dishonest but a rank amateur compared with the PM.

Yabby,Obama has done more to bankrupt the US economy that Bush with all these bailouts and counterfeit money.They are both irresponsible and incompetent.
Graham is on the right track in talking about more competition.The big four banks made a net profit of $22 billion.This is after all the exorbitant payouts to executives.Joe is correct in wanting to curb their excesses.The first big one is to remove from them the power of the fractional reserve lending.

The last two posts ignore forum rules, diverting the thread.
Now why do it?
Runner seems to do it more than any one and his post adds nothing to the debate.
IF Australia ever controls bank interest rates we over night will be a third world economy.
I again ask is this a result of the easy poll increased standing Liberals have got from flaming, yes public statements about problems we do not have.
This clearly seems to be an attempt to look for support from people who over commited them selves and who should have known what we all do rates will rise back to former highs, hopefully not the 1990,s but the early 2000 for sure