Wisdom: Our Policy-Makers
By
Monty Pelerin, posted December 1st, 2009 http://www.economicnoise.com/2009/12/01/wisdom-our-policy-makers/
A few days ago in a post entitled Wisdom: To Whom You Listen is Important
comments and forecasts from the 1930s were presented. The examples were
obviously handpicked and were ridiculously wrong. It was stated:
Years from now a similar collection of quotes from our
time will be collected. The names will be different, but the quotes
will be just as embarrassing. The likes of Greenspan, Bush, Bernanke,
Paulson, Obama, Cramer, Krugman, etc. etc. will appear as fools for the
future. Most have already qualified, but are still enhancing their
“resumes.” For future historians, this era may be more “target-rich” in
foolish statements than was the Great Depression.
The purpose of that post was twofold: (1) the so-called best and
brightest of that time had no realization of the severity of the
situation; (2) it is likely that we are in a similar situation today.
As evidence that the current situation is not understood and the
comment/projections are just as ridiculous, the following short video
is offered.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ79Pt2GNJo[/youtube]
Regardless of whether you consider Bernanke brilliant or an idiot,
it is truly scary that his judgment (with no oversight by any elected
official) guides most economic policy. Despite the fortune spent on
research and data collection at the Federal Reserve and by the Federal
Government, have we no better understanding of what is happening?