Aussie Float Architects Urge Devaluing 30 Years After Peg

Architects of the float of Australia’s dollar, trading at a similar level to when exchange controls were lifted 30 years ago, say the currency must devalue and economic reform be renewed to avert a recession.

Peter Jonson, who advised the central bank chief of the time, and Ross Garnaut, who counseled then-Prime Minister Bob Hawke, say the resource investment boom has rendered Australia uncompetitive. General Motors Co. this week cited an elevated exchange rate in deciding to stop making iconic Holden cars in the nation, as did Qantas Airways Ltd. on Dec. 5, when it flagged a record first-half loss and 1,000 job cuts -- announcements that echoed the economy’s early 1980s malaise.