The current Connatic is Oman Ursht, sixteenth in the Idite succession: a man of ordinary and undistinguished appearance. In portraits and on public occasions he wears a severe black uniform with a black casque, in order to project an image of inflexible authority, and this is how he is known to the folk of Alastor Cluster. In private Oman Ursht is a calm and reasonable man, who tends to under- rather than over-administrate. He ponders all aspects of his conduct, knowing well that his slightest act a gesture, a word, a symbolic nuance might start off an avalanche of unpredictable consequences: hence his effort to create the image of a man rigid, terse and unemotional.
—Jack Vance: Trullion.
Because of the powerful leverage of the Federal Reserve System, public statements by the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board are scrutinized by bankers and investors for clues as to whether "the Fed" is likely to tighten the money supply or ease up. An unguarded statement by the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, or a statement that is misnconstrued by financiers, can set off a panic in Wall Street that causes stock prices to plummet. [...] Given such drastic repercussions, which can affect financial markets around the world, Federal Reserve Board chairmen over the years have learned to speak in highly guarded and Delphic terms that often leave listeners puzzled as to what they really mean.
—Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowell.
No comments:
Post a Comment