Michael Reddell: Reserve Bank, bank capital etc

Things seem to be at a pretty low ebb in and around the Reserve Bank. There was, in particular, the mysterious, sudden, and as-yet unexplained resignation of the Governor (we’ve had four Governors since the Bank was given its operational autonomy 35 years ago, and only two have completed their terms and left in a normal way, which must be some sort of unwanted advanced country record). Having slimmed down the bloated number of Orr’s deputies by one last year, another of them quietly resigned and left last month on (apparently) short notice and no specific job to go to. Of those who remain, two are (at best) ethically challenged and one is simply unqualified for the job she holds.

Michael Reddell: Inquiring into banking

Hard on the heels of the Commerce Commission’s inquiry into some aspects of banking competition, Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee is also holding an inquiry. Submissions weren’t open for very long and have now closed, but the full terms of reference are here. It is a select committee inquiry, so it is hard to be optimistic anything very useful will come from it. Select committees are poorly resourced, even if they wanted to make a serious contribution, and the incentives seem to be almost entirely partisan political in nature.