Danger Will Robinson, danger

The ODT reports:

However, Mr Cunliffe said today he had an “open mind” about whether the OCR should instead be set by a monetary policy committee.

He told TV3’s The Nation there were some good arguments for a monetary committee – including that a range of views would be on the table when decisions were made.

Mr Cunliffe said the matter was being considered by Labour’s shadow finance minister, David Parker, and any decisions would be signalled before next year’s election.

One point of detail to consider was whether the committee should have external members representing the likes of unions and exporters.

“If you had someone like a leader of one of the main business lobbies or a manufacturer or an exporter, then they would have a first-hand understanding of the impact of overvalued exchange rates on exporting, which is a critical issue for New Zealand.”

He denied a monetary committee would be a radical change, saying it would still make independent decisions subject to the objectives of the Reserve Bank legislation.

An internal committee would not be a radical change, and could be beneficial.

A committee where the Government appoints union mates to it, so they can gerrymander interest rates to give economic growth a short-term steroid type fix, is a radical change and absolutely undermines the independence of the Reserve Bank.

Is there anything off the table in terms of pay off for unions? Giving them a vote on setting interest rates is madness. Totally against that. Also against a business lobby having a vote on interest rates.

Saying such a move would leave the bank independent is Orwellian double-speak.