Transparency Policy in Practice

The federal government often references IMF reports in support of its policies, but is none too keen on facilitating interactions between Fund staff and the media.  The IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office report on interactions with Fund members notes that:

the authorities of some advanced economies that had been major proponents of the Fund’s transparency policy in practice resisted the timely disclosure and dissemination of mission findings.

That would be us:

Press conferences/calls associated with the publication of the Public Information Notice and the Staff Report took place in the remaining countries, with the exceptions of Australia and New Zealand.

More from David Uren.

posted on 20 January 2010 by skirchner in Economics, Financial Markets, Media

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Fairfax Self-Parody Alert

The Sydney Morning Herald runs an op-ed by Fidel Castro, titled ‘The Truth About Copenhagen’.  You can also read it in the Tehran Times.

posted on 22 December 2009 by skirchner in Media

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Does the RBA Still Feed the Media Chooks?

Speculation about RBA media backgrounding in relation to future interest rate decisions is back again.  Even if no such backgrounding has taken place, the perception that this still occurs is very damaging, not only for the integrity of financial markets, but also for the supposed beneficiaries of the backgrounding.  It is well understood that politicians engage in selective leaks in order to control journalists.  There is nothing more damaging to the credibility of a press gallery journalist than to be seen as the mouthpiece for a politician.  The relationship between the RBA and journalists should not be viewed any differently.

The RBA could put a stop to the speculation by denying that the practice takes place or at least foreswearing its use in future.  Not only would this benefit the integrity of financial markets, it would also give us more confidence that the rather generous treatment the RBA receives from many in the media was actually deserved.

posted on 07 October 2009 by skirchner in Economics, Financial Markets, Media, Monetary Policy

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