The author has been described by News Ltd as an "iconoclast", "Svengali", a pollie's "economist muse", and "pungently accurate". Fairfax says he is a "Renaissance man" and "one of Australia’s most respected analysts." Stephen Koukoulas concludes that he is "85% right", and "would make a great Opposition leader." Terry McCrann claims the author thinks "‘nuance’ is a trendy village in the south of France", but can be "scintillating" when he thinks "clearly". The ACTU reckons he’s "an enigma wrapped in a Bloomberg terminal, wrapped in some apparently well-honed abs."

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Treasury analysis of bank competition

In its submission to the Senate Inquiry, the Treasury has offered some balanced statements on competition in the banking sector. I have enclosed a few charts below. One Treasury statement that stuck out, which will be familiar to regular readers here, was this:

"Banks are unique because of their particular mix of features which makes them vulnerable to runs with potentially systemic impacts and very important negative externalities for the economy. The fragility of banking systems was exposed during the recent global financial crisis."







at 8:01 AM