Tuesday, October 1, 2013

WHY Do We Keep Electing Overly Isolated Theorists To Policy Responsibility Positions, OVER Involved Practitioners?

Commentary by Roger Erickson

Here's another example of very clear thinking by Warren Mosler, ..... pointing out shamefully MUDDLED discourse on fiscal & monetary policy by those who know economic theory ... but NOT banking methods and practices.

Comments on Volcker article

Mosler makes some killer points here. Points that every American deserves to hear made.

The upshot? As always, the difference between theory & practice is smaller in theory than in actual practice. :( Volcker is clearly talking isolated ideology. 

Volcker & Mosler should have been WORKING TOGETHER, INTIMATELY, the past 20 years! Instead, Volcker has remained isolated in his exalted ivory tower, and the US Middle Class has paid the penalty for the resulting policy clumsiness, and missed outcomes.

Sadly, the ruling theorists never catch on.

Even sadder, WE keep electing overly isolated theorists to policy responsibility positions, OVER involved practitioners.

WHY do we do that?

That's our $100 question. We need a balance of operations/practitioner/theorist staff in all operations, just to chase changing context fast enough to matter.

EVERY system process is too important to be left to the presumed process owners. That is the very definition of a system - use of cross-process feedback to coordinate multiple processes into a whole. Why? To produce a whole that is greater than the sum of it's parts. This ain't rocket science, folks. We've always known this. For whatever reason, we're just not doing the obvious.

What idiot would ever ADMIT that keeping emerging theorists & emerging practitioners in isolation from one another is a pragmatic, adaptive idea? None? Because the missing feedback always kills those who remain uncoordinated ...  if any opponents anywhere actually do get a bit more coordinated?

So why is isolation a FEATURE of our class-based approach to self-governance?

If you can suggest ways to get more Americans back to talking more frequently with more Americans .... then for heaven's sake, please start!




2 comments:

The Just Gatekeeper said...

Can someone explain more about what Warren says about Volcker "putting a cap on borrowed reserves and shifting rate setting from the FOMC to the NY Fed"? I cant say I quite understand this point, but it seems important since I havent heard this story anywhere else. Has Warren or others written about this effect somewhere? I do remember him saying something about the Fed "slamming the window down" in one of the Columbia Law videos, but I didnt quite get it there, either.

Thanks!

system failure due to insufficient evolution? said...

The 1% blackmails Obama: US government has been shut down by the banksters

http://failedevolution.blogspot.gr/2013/10/the-1-blackmails-obama-us-government.html