There are few things that keep me up at night. And until recently, I would not have included “the shaky role of central bankers” on that list.
Then I read The Only Game in Town, by Allianz chief economic adviser and former Pimco CEO Mohamed El-Erian. In his book, El-Erian paints a terrifying picture of an economy that is being managed by a group of academics who never asked for the job; who don’t have the tools to keep performing the task; and who have no relief in the wings. “They have been forced to make things up on the spot,” El-Erian writes of the world’s central bankers. “Repeatedly, they have been compelled to resort to untested policy instruments. And, with their expectations for better outcomes often disappointed, many have felt (and still feel) the need to venture ever deeper into unknown and unfamiliar policy terrains.”