Foreign visitors to the Reserve Bank over the years have tended to raise questions about household debt much more frequently than they have raised questions about government debt. So the way ahead is going to have to involve a rather more nuanced consideration of all these issues. What about the future of inflation targeting?
For more than 20 years this framework as we have practised it has delivered the desired degree of price stability and has greatly contributed to overall macroeconomic performance. But some people have asked: is it a framework whose usefulness has now come to an end? All frameworks come under stress sooner or later.