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Volcker to the White House
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Paul Volcker, the man who finally whipped American inflation, has been tapped by Obama for a special White House advisory role.
Volcker is a very, very smart man. It is probably heresy, but I wonder if the endowments, like steel gonads, needed to crush inflation with 20% short term rates, are the same endowments that make you good at battling collapsing credit markets. The man and the moment have to combine correctly--Churchill was very good at battling Hitler, and very bad at peacetime tasks like running the Bank of England, or post-war Britain.
The other worry is, of course, that he is 81, and the workload may shorten the lifespan of a national treasure. But if the national treasure is willing, who am I to disagree?
Volcker is a very, very smart man. It is probably heresy, but I wonder if the endowments, like steel gonads, needed to crush inflation with 20% short term rates, are the same endowments that make you good at battling collapsing credit markets. The man and the moment have to combine correctly--Churchill was very good at battling Hitler, and very bad at peacetime tasks like running the Bank of England, or post-war Britain.
The other worry is, of course, that he is 81, and the workload may shorten the lifespan of a national treasure. But if the national treasure is willing, who am I to disagree?
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