Brian Easton

Listener 20 September, 1997.

Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money;

When a decade ago this columnist talked about the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) “quasi-targeting” on the exchange rate, the conventional wisdom said that this was a nonsense. Over the years that quasi-targeting became increasingly explicit, as illustrated by the RBNZ’s Monetary Conditions Index. The MCI, as it is known, combines a short term interest rate and the exchange rate (measured by a trade weighted index – the TWI), to give a quantitative indicator of the RBNZ’s assessment of monetary conditions. The RBNZ even sets a range in which the MCI should hover. As I write the index is meant to be between 775 and 875, although it is likely to be changed with the new monetary policy announcement by the RBNZ, this Thursday (18th).

Listener 6 September 1997

Keywords: Social Policy;

One of the safest rules of politics is that any claim there is a crisis is really an excuse to justify a policy. There may be a problem but, typically, converting it into a “crisis” distorts the analysis, resulting in a twisted policy prescription. Sadly, but not surprisingly, this is true for the current superannuation debate.