“But the data will probably be irrelevant to the decision.”
Before Alan Greenspan boasted how The Fed had eliminated the business cycle, the above quote would have been ridiculed as a new “Yogi-ism”. Perhaps a pundit would have written a column scrutinizing this dangerous admission that things had changed, and not for the better. That was a different time, as we all understand.
The Fed, The Treasury, and certainly Planet Wall Street understand that we are in a different era. They have the “bully pulpit”, and are making good use of it. In this brave new video world the message is we should believe what they say, rather than believe our lying eyes.
Everything they say is down (inflation, unemployment, investor concern), we see is up. Everything they say is up (the GDP, the ISM, big ticket mfg, investor confidence), we see is down.
And the things they can’t wish away, like trade deficits, budget deficits, and the huge notional value of derivatives contracts, well, they simply say it doesn’t matter. The ponzi scheme that started as mortgage-backed securities has wrought CDOs which has wrought “structured financial instruments”.
Point is, possession of the facts used to mean everything. Possession of anything was “nine-tenths of the law”. Now? Well, now, it’s perception that matters; governance has become irrelevant, and the facts be damned.
At some point perception will intersect with reality. It always does. Like a solar eclipse that shook the ancients who trusted blindly in the fiery orb, the day is coming when all the financial machinations and manipulations will intersect with the reality of a world no longer believing blindly in the power of Planet Wall Street to control their lives.
Do we want such turmoil? Are we asking for salvation through ruination?
“It matters not…” said The Hedge Hog, “…whither we want." Here’s hoping “the gods of the copybook headings” are Café subscribers! |
