Monetary policy is controlled by the federal banking system. It is the setting of interest rates by a central bank with the aim of influencing inflation, unemployment, and economic growth. One major difference of the US and Aussie Federal Reserve is that US board members are nominated by the president and then approved by Congress; the Aussie’s board members are members of industry and have a large stake in what the system does. Currently, Australia’s Reserve Bank is instituting a contractionary policy to trying to curb inflation and maintain a 2 to 3 percent level. They are doing this by having higher interest rates (higher than the US). The recession actually helped the economy here because it slowed raising inflation. According to Richard Finlay, our presenter, mining exports have almost tripled, education has more than doubled, and tourism has also steadily increased. A second difference between the two central banking systems is that the Australian board is comprised of 6 external members and 3 internal members.
US consulate can help people who have lost their passports, get citizenship for babies that are born abroad, and they also help get visas for people. Chris Corkey, our presenter, said that the goals of US-relations with foreign countries are modeled after US-Australian relations. The FTA is significant because it allows Australia, New Zealand, and the US to trade tariff free and make goods between countries more competitive. It had a big impact on the wine industry because after the agreement was signed Australian wines could now be competitively priced against other wines in the market. 
Overall I think that this day was a great educational experience because it isnt everyday that you get to go to presentations by US consolute members and a briefing by a RBA senior economist.
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