RBA Arrogance

Australian politicians are notable for their arrogance and the degree to which they are out of touch with the concerns and problems of ordinary citizens. But if there’s a cohort that’s even more so, it’s powerful bureaucrats. There’s an extra layer of disdain and arrogance with bureaucrats like the boffins at the Reserve Bank or the Australian Taxation Office, because they’re not accountable to the Australian people. They’re appointed rather than elected, and they can enjoy exercising the power they hav eover people’s lives without fear of being turfed out at the next election. The RBA can make big decisions that have huge impacts on families all over Australia without having to explain themselves or face the wrath of the electorate. And so they do. As I have commented previously, most of the members of the Reserve Bank board are wealthy elites, people who typically earn over a million dollars a year. They spend most of their time in their ivory tower offices or luxury homes, and spend zero percent of time speaking to people at street level. If they ever get out and about, it’s usually to speak at a business lunch where they can rub shoulders with other wealthy elites. When Philip Lowe ended his reign of terror as Governor of the Reserve Bank, I celebrated because I saw him as a particularly blinkered individual who frequently lectured the nation that he knew what was best for us … … and that we shouldn’t complain that he’s nonchalantly added over $1,000 a month to the living costs of ordinary families, without achieving the end game – which was to tame inflation. Imagine my surprise and alarm to discover that the new RBA Governor is even more arrogant and out of touch than Philip Lowe. Michele Bullock, who could have a future career an undertaker or possibly an executioner, has made a number of public pronouncements that indicate she doesn’t give a toss about the lives of families with mortgages. According to the RBA’s new Grim Reaper, Australian households are doing just fine. “Households and businesses are actually in a pretty good position,” she announced recently. How has she arrived at this stunning conclusion, because we know she hasn’t been going door to door to speak to people? My best guess is that she’s looked at some graphs on a computer screen, which is what economists tend to do before making inaccurate predictions about the housing market and other pronouncements that leave many Australians shaking their heads.