In my Review of the Economics Society’s Budget Night I mentioned that Professor Neville Norman controversially called for the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy role to be put on hold and the cash rate to be fixed. Such a statement cannot be left without further investigation, and therefore I have interviewed Professor Norman to find out exactly what his reasoning is.
First though, we need to look at what the RBA is trying to achieve by reviewing and adjusting the cash rate on a monthly basis. The aim is to analyse macroeconomic data and use this information to stabilise the business cycle (reduce swings in economic activity in the Australian economy).