THE LONELINESS OF MONETARY TECHNOCRATS

Vadym Syrota — PhD in economics, independent banking expert, contributor to the specialized blog of the Kennan Institute Woodrow Wilson Center (USA)

“In the 1980s, most politicians in advanced economies were free market enthusiasts and pushed for deregulation, financialization, and hyper-globalization. This resulted in emerging market countries transferring the lion’s share of their export proceeds to the City of London and Wall Street.”

Despite the loud crowds of mainstream economists, technocrats and the gurus of central banking visiting the annual symposium in Jackson Hole (Wyoming, USA), it seems that the engagement of this community with public life is close to zero. Such a conclusion can be drawn from the political loneliness experienced by these top-officials in their home countries. This is not surprising, given that left-wing thinkers and academics claim that the “unelected power” wielded by central bankers is responsible for a sort of class war. This may be partly explained by the wealth redistribution toward top asset holders caused by the different forms of Quantitative Easing (“Socialism for bankers, capitalism for the rest”). Nevertheless, prominent right-wing figures are also confused by finding themselves in the present crisis point of monetary and economic development. For example, Prince Michael of Liechtenstein, the President of the…