It is not that we feel the need slavishly to follow every interest rate move of the major countries – the record shows otherwise, as I will shortly demonstrate. But the environment in which the Australian economy and financial markets operate is heavily affected by events and policies in the major regions.
I have in mind here not so much short-term factors, but the lower-frequency, more persistent forces at work. Even the most casual review of the rationale for our decisions over the years would reveal a keen sense of the importance of international factors for the Australian economy.