It’s time to add climate change and net-zero emissions to the RBA’s top 3 economic goals

Fri, 9 Dec 2022 20:12:36 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-add-climate-change-and-net-zero-emissions-to-the-rbas-top-3-economic-goals-194068>

"Increasingly, climate change is at the centre of government decision-making.

This year’s federal budget devoted pages to an examination of the fiscal impact
of climate change; Treasury has established a climate change modelling unit;
and it’ll be front and centre of next year’s intergenerational report.

Yet it is still nowhere near the centre of the deliberations of Australia’s
Reserve Bank – one of the nation’s most important economic decision-making
institutions.

The Reserve Bank’s enabling legislation is the Reserve Bank Act 1959. That
63-year old legislation requires the bank to make decisions that are directed
to the “greatest advantage of the people of Australia” in three specific areas:

* the stability of the currency of Australia
* the maintenance of full employment in Australia
* the economic prosperity and welfare of the people of Australia

The first objective is interpreted in an agreement signed by the treasurer as
aiming to get “inflation between 2% and 3%, on average over time”.

The second and third aren’t clearly defined in the agreement, leaving most of
the focus on the first."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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