Unasked questions
Karen Middleton’s report (“Lowe regard: RBA governor fights for his job”, February 18-24) notes Philip Lowe raised questions to bond traders relating to household spending, likely evolution of the labour market, the trajectory of wages – factors relating to the demand side of the economy, where wages and consumer spending exist. Nine years of wage stagnation did not create this inflation, a fact downplayed by mainstream media. The RBA acknowledges that our inflation is largely derived from the supply side of the economy – impacts of the war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic. Lowe insists demand still plays a part, but did any senator grill him to define that? He defends the use of the only “blunt tool” he has – to raise interest rates and penalise wage earners on the demand side of the economy. Inflationary rising prices and related successive-year record corporate profits are ignored.
– Ken Little, Birkdale, Qld point of absurdity. The principal reason for the existence of the RBA is to provide some influence on the economy to control inflation. The only tool they have to do this with is interest rates. The insane prices that people have been paying for real estate is one of the focal points driving this circle of insanity. Getting rid of Lowe is no remedy. We have created the perfect model of the tragedy of the commons, where a combination of greed, tax offsets, franking credits and taxation cuts for the wealthy creates a perfect storm for the middle and lower classes. We have taken one of the most precious commodities of community, namely a safe place to live and sleep, and turned it into a pit of fear and despair for our children. Complaints and inferences that the RBA is making life hard for mortgage holders, when a large part of the community is gorging on the torment and despair of youth, should make us all ashamed. – Gerry Gillespie, Queanbeyan, NSW
His political ambitions are enormous. His political capital, less so. It appears that he has once again decided to risk everything on a vote-winning appeal to the far right, and First Nations peoples will be the ones who may suffer. Denied a voice for so long, they will remember his treachery and the hollow apology of a hollow man, apparently devoid of moral compass and soulless. Devoid, it would also appear, of such leadership essentials as honesty and integrity. Though his nameless “friends” suggest he is funny, he doesn’t make me laugh.
– Geoff Nilon, Mascot, NSW