Bernanke was taken to task yesterday by Rep Paul Ryan, a well know critic. Ryan is more than a critic; he is a would-be executioner. Some at the Fed think Ryan’s elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top. Yes it does and he’s providing a real service to all of us.
Since CSPAN came along most legislators fear a confrontation with Fed policy makers. When challenged at a hearing for example Greenspan would launch a circuitous counter attack, saying nothing really but drawing on endless words and numbers which snowed his opponents, and, right in front of their constituents. Thus, most just let it go.
Ryan won’t do that. Whether we agree of not with his view, Ryan’s providing fresh air.
Bernanke’s intellectual honesty distinguished him from his predecessor. We hope it still does. Yet he is in fact a tad “cocky” as Ryan noted. What’s behind that exactly?
Being human, policy makers are often drawn in by the aura of their surroundings, by the complexity of their wares, by the fawning of the masses, their egos soon inflating to before unknown proportions. After a while they admit they’re still mortals, but just barely. Or so they pretend.
Fed presidents remain more grounded in this regard; governors less so. Presidents work their way up, actual business people; gov’s are appointed. Some like Greenspan are simply and purely politically promiscuous. For example, Worth mag noted that Greenspan when in private practice was the “worst forecaster ever.” No problem.
All of the FOMC however, every one of them carry with them a haunting, a perceived vulnerability, their own heart of darkness. That would be the very fact that they know they don’t know a whole lot more than the rest of us; they’re not seers and they’re not prophets. Policy making is a crap shoot; they know it, they’ll just never admit it. For the rest of us to know that they know it, would, or so they believe obliterate their credibility. That is why for example they had and will always fight to the death, efforts to video tape their deliberations.
They’ve got a tough job. They make it a lot tougher by pretending they’re something they’re not.
Robert Craven
Since CSPAN came along most legislators fear a confrontation with Fed policy makers. When challenged at a hearing for example Greenspan would launch a circuitous counter attack, saying nothing really but drawing on endless words and numbers which snowed his opponents, and, right in front of their constituents. Thus, most just let it go.
Ryan won’t do that. Whether we agree of not with his view, Ryan’s providing fresh air.
Bernanke’s intellectual honesty distinguished him from his predecessor. We hope it still does. Yet he is in fact a tad “cocky” as Ryan noted. What’s behind that exactly?
Being human, policy makers are often drawn in by the aura of their surroundings, by the complexity of their wares, by the fawning of the masses, their egos soon inflating to before unknown proportions. After a while they admit they’re still mortals, but just barely. Or so they pretend.
Fed presidents remain more grounded in this regard; governors less so. Presidents work their way up, actual business people; gov’s are appointed. Some like Greenspan are simply and purely politically promiscuous. For example, Worth mag noted that Greenspan when in private practice was the “worst forecaster ever.” No problem.
All of the FOMC however, every one of them carry with them a haunting, a perceived vulnerability, their own heart of darkness. That would be the very fact that they know they don’t know a whole lot more than the rest of us; they’re not seers and they’re not prophets. Policy making is a crap shoot; they know it, they’ll just never admit it. For the rest of us to know that they know it, would, or so they believe obliterate their credibility. That is why for example they had and will always fight to the death, efforts to video tape their deliberations.
They’ve got a tough job. They make it a lot tougher by pretending they’re something they’re not.
Robert Craven
No comments:
Post a Comment