If America has nothing to sell how can they be lifting their export performance?
Its not a case of ‘if’, they have lifted their export performance and their lower than expected current account deficit (CAD) is evidence of this.

This is because the US dollar is at 10 year lows, making their exporters much more competitive.

Australia, on the other…[Read more]

Yeah the sellers will drop prices to help those who can’t afford them
Where did it say that? Sellers will drop prices if they can’t sell their property (and they have some pressing need to sell).

Perth is surging ahead.
I think everyone is aware that the property market is still very strong.

Just an update on the Australian dollar story…

Greenback, metal prices cut down dollar
http://smh.com.au/news/Business/Greenback-metal-prices-cut-down-dollar/2005/05/16/1116095907830.html

The AUD is now below 76c for the first time in months. Here is a five day chart:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AUDUSD=X&t=5d&l=on&z=l&q=l&c=

I thought you might enjoy having a dig at my apparent economic knowledge handicap.
I have no interest in putting people down, or making them look like idiots.

Are you implying something Mr Michie??? ))
Not at all. I only care if I look like an idiot, other people can post unsubstantiated drivel if they like.

I knew you couldn’t resist throwing a link in David.
I link because I double-check my facts before posting. It takes about 5 seconds to Google, not much time if it saves you looking like an idiot.

Did you miss this???
No. My advice: let it go.

Robert, you do seem to have a habit of p*ssing people off. Suggestion: If someone has a go at you, don’t respond in kind. It just escalates into a shouting match that really doesn’t help anyone.

As for the FIRB, I’m not a foreigner looking to invest in Australia so I really don’t know much about it. I do know Australia has double-taxation…[Read more]

I think David is being worn down and moving to the ‘Force’. Forget the ‘Dark Side’!!!
Not at all. Colebatch makes a compelling case that Sydney is in a serious slump, and our absurd house prices are a major cause of this. Colebatch concludes that a ‘painful correction’ is a long way off, because NSW investors are still borrowing like crazy. My…[Read more]

dmitchie – is that tongue in cheek or are you serious? his position seems quite different to yours that’s all i.e. correction is a long way off (read: never)
I didn’t say I agreed with what he has to say, but I respect Colebatch’s opinion, he is one of the better economic commentators. If you want to read biased, one-eyed clap trap, read Terry McCrann.

Another good article today:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Paul-Sheehan/How-a-clever-world-could-selfdestruct/2005/05/15/1116095851377.html
On one side, the city-based politicians are handing out $20 billion in tax breaks to millions of people who are counting increased wealth built on a nine-year prosperity uplift caused by rising property values,…[Read more]

Ahhh … Colebatch, knows his stuff.

SALACIOUS, good article, but how about a link?

The fundamental problem in Sydney is that when the baby boomers start selling off their investment properties to fund their retirement, there will be no-one left in Sydney who can afford their overpriced nest eggs.

A depression!!!!!
Only a fool would want one. The thought scares the sh-t out of me.
Misery on the world.
How many of “us” lot would survive in a depression?
No-one wants a depression, but depressions and severe recessions almost always follow an out-of-control boom. The Great Depression followed the Roaring 20s, the recession of the early…[Read more]

seriously most americans cannot get their head around how they end up with more AUD than USD anyway
Over the past 7 years I have dealt with thousands of American customers. Most Americans have no clue that other countries have different currencies, they cannot comprehend different timezones, and refuse point blank to believe that the seasons are…[Read more]

I think you guys misunderstand what the Reserve Bank can actually do. They are not restricted to cash rate movements.
Sure there is more than one lever to monetary policy, the RBA has considerable powers, the restriction lies in what their stated objectives are. i.e. The government never told them it was ok to target asset inflation so they…[Read more]

Why specifically do they focus on consumer prices?
Because that’s what their charter tells them to do.

Runaway asset price inflation is every bit as damaging as runaway consumer inflation (if not more so) but all the RBA is allowed to do is express concern.

Here’s an interesting article about the…[Read more]

Inflation increases prices across the board in most cases.
Not for the past eight years it hasn’t. The CPI has been running at 2-3% while house prices have been increasing by 10-20% p.a. Almost makes you think there might be something out of whack doesn’t it? [blink]

Note: The RBA is not required to control asset price inflation. Why? I dunno.

maybe it’s ‘buckflation’ – a weaker form of stagflation?
Maybe … its stagflation with low unemployment. They had high unemployment in the 70s.

hmmmm inflation – inflates property values, deflates mortgage values in real terms. a great environment for property investment.
That’s price inflation (as in the CPI) not asset inflation. We’ve had a…[Read more]

We’re in a funny period. Sluggish growth but with very low unemployment, and wage pressures suggesting future inflation. Prior to the 1970s economists didn’t believe you could have slow growth and inflation at the same time, but then it happened, so they called it “stagflation”.

Is stagflation making a come back? Who knows. The Economist…[Read more]