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?
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2008/11/volcker-to-the-white-house/4396/
