Kerre Woodham: Most of us don't think about Reserve Bank policy decisions

Good Reserve Bank Governors, like good Victorian children, should be seen and not heard. In other words, they should not be drawing attention to themselves. They should quietly get about their business, not alarm the horses and not draw undue attention to themselves. Ask yourself, apart from Don Brash, can you name any of the other Reserve Bank Governors who have served New Zealand over the past 20 odd years?

Adrian Orr has certainly made a name for himself. He would argue not of his own doing... possibly. Opposition parties are alarmed at his reappointment for a further five years. Furthermore, they're concerned about many of the Reserve Bank Board appointees that unanimously endorsed Orr’s contract being extended for a further five years.  

You've also had in the past, many experienced people who've been critical of the Reserve Bank’s performance. Really, that's Adrian Orr’s performance. Former Governors Graham Wheeler, Don Brash and Grant Spencer have criticised the bank, former chair Arthur Grimes and former Chief Economist John Dermot. Mainly because of the extent of the monetary policy easing.  

Sam Stubbs, Simplicity Kiwisaver fund chief executive, put forward a column in defence of Adrian Orr and says well can anyone name a central bank anywhere in the world that made all the right decisions during Covid? And who now has inflation under control? Sam Stubbs says that looking at how well our economy actually performed during the Covid crisis, it's a tough judgement to say the Reserve Bank mishandled it.

You could also point to just about every single Western democracy and say they're  reaping what they've sown. They're facing the consequences of the decisions made by the central banks during a crisis that nobody had seen before. 

 All I know is what I'm experiencing and what I'm seeing. All I know is what commentators are saying, and that's that we're in for a world of pain because everything was overcooked. We're now going to suffer as a result of decisions made by a man who's just been appointed for another five years.

How does that work? I mean, most of us most of us don't even think about Reserve Bank policy decisions, because they don't affect us, and isn't that the way it should be? This shouldn't even be a topic for talk back and an ideal world yet here we are. 

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