Readers’ letters on loan application irregularities and the housing crisis, Peter Dutton’s cut to the fuel excise, Donald Trump’s push for tariff deals to unify nations against China, coal energy.
Michael Read and John Kehoe highlight the folly of policies that pour fuel on the demand-side fire of Australia’s overheated house prices (“Economists lash parties’ recklessness”). But the most crucial lever for calming prices – regulatory oversight of bank lending – is missing from the debate.
Liberal and Labor proposals both increase demand and, inevitably, prices. Yet, the elephant in the room is the persistent failure of banks, auditors, and regulators to curb questionable lending practices.
