Glenn Stevens: The exit interview
Former Bank of England governor Mervyn King is a nervous flyer so putting his life in the hands of a recreational pilot is not his idea of a good time.
But when Glenn Stevens offered to take him up in his twin-engined light aircraft for a better look at Sydney back in February 2014 there was no hesitation.
"I can tell you the only person I would trust to fly me around Australia is Glenn Stevens," says King.
"He is what you would expect in a very good, solid central banker piloting an aeroplane. There are no risks. You know exactly what he is doing. He checks everything first. He gives you a sense of real confidence when you go up in the clouds."
With Stevens set to finish his 10-year stint in charge of the Reserve Bank of Australia on September 18, his counterparts paid tribute to a central banker they say held his own on the international stage.
A common response among those asked about his contribution to central bank gatherings around the world was that Stevens asked lots of questions, particularly during the global financial crisis when assumptions about the workings of financial markets needed to be challenged.
At global economy meetings of central governors in Basel, Switzerland, Stevens was particularly effective in getting participants to scrutinise conventional wisdom.
"He wasn't content to just report on what was going on in Australia and how successful it all was," says King, who ran the Bank of England from 2003 to 2013.
"We were all struggling to come to grips with what was going on [during the GFC], how to think about the world, how to think our way out of the crisis. And what you needed were people who were prepared to be intellectually honest ... some of the others, from maybe bigger countries, were focusing on explaining what they were doing in their country to the rest of the world."
Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central bank from 2003 to 2011, says Australia's position of relative stability during the GFC meant Stevens was more able to adopt an internationalist perspective. Nevertheless, he says Australia's domestic vulnerabilities to swings in commodity prices meant the RBA head's analysis provided the meetings with an important perspective.
"I would characterise Glenn as a wise man," he says. "All his reflection and meditation were based on a calm, serene but sharp and profound analysis of what we were going through. He was not a maverick in the aggressive sense of the term but intellectually he was extremely independent."
This independence did not always win Stevens admirers in Canberra. Howard government ministers still complain bitterly about the RBA's unprecedented decision to raise interest rates during the 2007 election campaign (and twice more in 2008) with one former Coalition minister describing it as an "economic misread and political misread".
Joe Hockey is one senior Liberal, however, that "put aside" his differences after being appointed treasurer in 2013.
Hockey, who co-chaired with Stevens several Group of 20 finance minister and central bank governor meetings around the world in 2014, says Stevens is respected internationally.
"When he speaks, people listen," he says. "I had a very close working relationship with him and have a very high regard for his intellect."
Another recurring observation about Stevens is that he made his mark with a down-to-earth style. Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz, who has known Stevens since they were both "backbenchers" in Basel in the late 1980s sitting behind their respective deputy governors, says the Australian was always "constructive".
"In other words, he never spoke just to hear his own voice, but built upon other interventions to create advances in the conversation. And he did so in a manner that conveyed wisdom, which is a rare thing."
King says that in an era when markets seem to believe central bank governors possess semi-magical powers, Stevens is a welcome reminder the job can be done without a cult of personality.
"There's no point having someone who's flashy and sways with the wind of current political opinion. He's more the Steve Waugh type than Shane Warne. In Glenn Stevens you clearly had someone who was very straight and very independent."
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