Stephen Kirchner is a program director for trade and investment at the United States Center at the University of Sydney, and he was written widely on financial markets and economy policy in Australia. Stephen joins Macro Musings to talk about the journey of monetary policy in Australia that has transpired throughout the last few decades. Specifically, David and Stephen discuss the structure of the Reserve Bank of the Australia, the history of its inflation target, how Australia was able to avoid the worst of the Great Recession, and the actions they have taken to in response to the COVID crisis. Transcript for the episode can be found here. Stephen's Twitter: @insteconomics Stephen's US Studies Center profile: https://www.ussc.edu.au/people/stephen-kirchner Stephen's Substack page: https://stephenkirchner.substack.com/ Related Links: *Money Too Tight to Mention: The Reserve Bank of Australia's Financial Stability Mandate and Low Inflation* by Stephen Kirchner http://www.institutional-economics.com/images/uploads/EAP.pdf *Cost-Benefit Analysis of Leaning against the Wind* by Trent Saunders and Peter Tulip https://rba.gov.au/publications/rdp/2019/2019-05.html *Twenty-five Years of Inflation Targeting in Australia: Are There Better Alternatives for the Next 25 Years?* by Warwick McKibbin and Augustus Panton https://www.brookings.edu/research/twenty-five-years-of-inflation-targeting-in-australia-are-there-better-alternatives-for-the-next-25-years/ *The RBA Needs a New Post-virus Monetary Policy Game* by Richard Holden, Warwick McKibbin, and John Quiggin https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/the-rba-needs-a-new-post-virus-monetary-policy-game-20200505-p54ptw David's blog: macromarketmusings.blogspot.com David's Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

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