You can't have it both ways Kevin

We are told by his imperial highness that the banking institutions that Australia has are strong ,well funded and well regulated. These are the same banks that have written down billions in sub-prime losses . Firstly if they have to pass on increases in borrowings from overseas ,what were they doing lending overseas in the first place? I feel it is about time the CEO's and the shareholders bore the brunt of the decisions they allowed them to take out of greed. If these banks are so strong let them pass on the full amount the reserve bank drops interest rates by. The banks that have strong retail deposits with little reliance on overseas funding will reap the benefits of not engaging in speculative gambling in foreign shores where they have no on the ground experience of valuations of these securities . We regulate and grant licenses for banks to operate so the are not a completely free enterprise to do as they will. It is obvious the CEO's of these banks require a little more regulation ,i mean they are not like US banks but they are not Jedi knights working the force in favor of its depositors , clients or Kevin's Working Families struggling with high mortgages.
I feel we are near the end of this mess because as with a boom the experts say "we can see it going much higher" then it implodes. Well at the moment they are saying "the times could get much worst". Well an x-spert in economics is just an unknown drip under pressure. We in Australia have been working so hard and long hours , with the resource boom that has flowed on everywhere.This will give us an opportunity to holiday ,take a break and refresh which in turn should give tourism a boost. The ones in our society with eyes bigger than their stomachs will have to keep on peddling a little longer to pay off the debt but interest rates should fall to help them out. The credit crunch will end up being a very good thing as it will stop reckless lending on dubious assets and business. Like the banks that have lent to newbies in my industry of limousine services.