Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Petrol prices have pushed inflation up. At its next meeting, the Reserve Bank board is going to have to decide if that warrants an increase in interest rates.
Why is monetary policy outside the realm of politics? What are the social ramifications of our current monetary policy system? What alternatives exist?
Put to the test in the past two years, the idea of a “natural” rate of unemployment has failed. There’s no need to push unemployment up to any particular rate to bring down inflation.
With an inflation rate peaking at just 4.4%, Japan seems to be getting something right about managing economic pressures. How does it do this, and should New Zealand revisit its own strategies?
Many Canadians are puzzled by food prices remaining high despite the Bank of Canada’s efforts to curb inflation. If interest rate policies aren’t bringing food prices down, then what will?
Inflation has slipped faster than the Reserve Bank thought it would, and the underlying rate is down to 5.4%. The bank is likely to tread cautiously from here on.