The Kids (At The Fed) Are Not Alright (January 30, 2012)
. . .
K “They sound like a bunch of seventh graders snapping their towels in the locker room and squealing at each other.”
J “Seems that the model of adult life as ‘high school writ large’ has degenerated into ‘junior high school writ large.’”
K “Civilization may be on the retrograde as our society slides into collapse. Our national destiny may be heading toward a state of ‘kindergarten writ large.’ Too many of our politicians have problems ‘playing well with others.’ At least at the Fed, the clowns were all playing ‘Ring Around The Rosie’ with each other while disregarding the decline outside.”
J “The Fed should be required to release transcripts every year rather than after five years. What is transpiring and conspiring is too important to wait.”
K “Years ago, the notion of ‘Groupthink’ was trendy. The idea is that a group may be more concerned about maintaining harmony that developing a realistic perception of the situation they confront. You wonder if even one of the Fed economists was writing internal e-mails warning of what was obvious to anyone who looked outside.”
J “And got together after work with a friend over a beer and despaired about the situation.”
. . .
K “Grab a sheet of paper and jot down the names of three individuals, trained as economists or not, who have a clue about what is going on in the economy.”
J “. . . How about two?”
K “Two will do.”
J “. . . I am working on it. . . . How about one?”
K “One is a start.”
J “. . . Can I have until tomorrow?”
K “Take your time. Larry Summers’ statement about women in scientific disciplines may be 180 degrees from the truth.”
J “Summers is reliable because he is reliably wrong especially about the ‘dismal science.’”
K “The only individuals who have a clue in our society about our economic circumstances are women – Brooksley Born, Sheila Bair, Elizabeth Warren, Yves Smith, Nicole Foss, Gretchen Morgenson, Terry Gross, Christine Lagarde, etc.”
J “That is because women care. When you think about it, the forte of our fellow males is starting wars and filling prisons. When you get right down to it, the males who start the wars should fill our prisons.”
K “Talent is a mix of a tutored and sage intellect, personal and intellectual integrity, and good old-fashioned courage. America simply does not have talent at the top. The élite is not élite. And the current feeder system of universities, foundations and fellowships is designed to ferret out the same charlatans and promote them into positions of power in America.”
. . .
[See the article and comments in “The Washington Post” discussing the delusions at the Federal Reserve Bank six years ago at http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/greenspan-image-tarnished-by-newly-released-documents/2012/01/12/gIQAvh0mtP_story.html.]
[See the “Frontline” program titled “The Warning” discussing the shenanigans of Greenspan, Summers, Rubin and their ilk and the courage of Brooksley Born at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/.]
[See the “e-ssay” uploaded exactly six years ago to the minute titled “Greenspan’s Legacy – Apres moi, Le Meltdown (January 30, 2006).”]
Bumper stickers of the week:
The nerds won, but not the smart or courageous ones.
What clothes is the Emperor not wearing today?
Plus ca change . . .
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