thedailybell.com / By Anthony Wile / January 25, 2013
Bloomberg provides us with an article – “Contagion Thesis Once Derided Proven by Kristin Forbes” – profiling Ms. Forbes in a fulsome manner. She is obviously the mainstream’s latest economic celebrity.
This is an interesting phenomenon, in fact, where economists and bankers are treated like rock stars, celebrated for a brilliance that only their peers can truly understand.
This article celebrates Ms. Forbes for her “work” on financial contagion. This is really a subdominant social theme of the power elite, that top economists can observe the complex workings of the economy, analyze them and provide economic technocratswith tools they can use to help counter the business boom and bust cycle.
We are to believe that central bankers are like doctors for the economy, though previously we’ve compared them to a priesthood. Certainly the mainstream media approaches them with great reverence – ordinarily reserved for medical men who heal us with the “drugs” of Big Pharma.
The Bloomberg article doesn’t disappoint when it comes to reverence. It describes Ms. Forbes in a remarkable manner. We noticed this sort of approach previously with the new Governor for the Bank of England, Mark Carney. George Osborne was responsible for Carney’s appointment and the British Guardian newspaper described Osborne’s enthusiasm – his “man crush” – for his technocratic choice:
“Osborne said he had recommended Carney to David Cameron, who in turn recommended him to the Queen for appointment. The chancellor said Carney was “the outstanding central banker of his generation with unparalleled expertise in financial regulation”.
He told MPs: “He will bring a fresh perspective. He has got what it takes to help bring families and businesses through these incredibly challenging economic times. My responsibility was to get the best for Britain, and with Mark Carney we’ve got that.”
These statements are fascinating in part because they are as vague as they are worshipful. A central banker (like Ben Bernanke) fixes the price and volume of money using the power of government. How this makes Carney “outstanding” I’m not really sure. Is it because his presentation doesn’t immediately inform you that he is an agent of state power? What is it about Carney that makes him “the best”?
Again, these questions arise if we keep in mind that the ultimatums of central banking are not voluntary. Carney’s brief includes the use of state power to enforce his decision on interest rates. You might as well call England’s top tax collector, the “outstanding revenuer of his generation.” It really makes no difference. Both are engaged in making economic pronouncements leading to confiscatory policies that are then transmitted via state mandates.
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