the million dollar man , page-2

yes, seems a pretty unfair shake of economic sauce bottle in my books.

Average wage earners have to work more than 20 years to get the same remuneration and are lucky if they they get 3 or 4% pay rise a year ( barely enough to keep up with inflation ).

They are expected to be more productive and give up benefits, do same work with less people, work extra hours for no extra pay, work health unfriendly shifts, you name it.

These jokers at RBA are getting away with increases over 20% a year for no extra productivity.
A million for sitting in the office, reading few economic reports, addressing few conferences and attending 11 meetings a year, where they fiddle with interest rates.

This argument that Australia needs higher interest rates to attract overseas investments never washed with me.
The interest rates Australians have been asked to pay for their mortgages and personal loans are exorbitant by developed world standard and border on usury.
In Europe rates this high are levied only by basket case economies in crisis, not prosperous countries that are making good money exporting with their citizens enjoying high living standards in buoyant domestic economy with almost full employment and no debts to speak off. Australia has credit rating on par with Switzerland and Germany and should not have to pay premium on the borrowed funds.

It is a myth pushed by those who benefit from it, mainly banking sector, who gets to cream of a very generous proportion of funds we are compelled by law and other arrangements to deposit in their coffers and they promptly lend it to someone else at a healthy margin, laughing all the way to the bank - their own.

RBA mandate is to keep inflation at acceptable levels and value of currency at levels consistent with productive economy outcomes. They have only one lever - official interest rates which is considered a blunt instrument in any case. Wielding it inevitably disadvantages some sections of society and benefits others.
But banks win with any change. When official rates rise, banks charge the increases to mortgage rates and loans immediately and delay the increases to variable deposit rates until much latter. By doing this they actually do RBA's biding, by removing money from the economy they are hopefully reducing household and business spending and hanging on to it for a while, before distributing the slosh to depositors as higher interest and share holders as dividends. And the pay themselves handsomely for doing this as well.

Glen Stevens is a poor relative when it comes to packages that Mike Smith, Clyde Cameron and Ralf Norris pay themselves.

Ralf Norris from CBA pocketed cool 16.2 million, whooping 75% increase according to
http://www.lendingcentral.com/2010/09/19/cba-ceo-year-pay-rises-75-to-162m/

Seeing remuneration packages like this makes one feeling like jointing Hugo Chaves Neo-Marxist party while waiting for Jesus second coming to overturn the tables of the money changers at the Temple.