Best and worst central banker, ever

Water Cooler Investing
#1

This interesting debate got sparked near my desk when we were watching Yellen speak today and thought I’d see what you guys think about it -

Who is the best0 and worst Central Bank head ever?

Criterias:

  1. The complexity of problems (s)/he’s had to deal with

  2. Impact (s)/he’s had

  3. Influence (s)/he’s had on policy makers of other countries

I don’t know much about central bankers in the 20th century so maybe the more experienced one’s can contribute but I see…

Draghi as the best one

BoJ’s Masaaki Shirakawa (BoJ’s head before Kuroda) as the worst one

PS: I’ve read a bit about Roy Young being impressive too, the Fed chair around the 1929 crash, but don’t know enough to rank him…

#2

Mark Carney gets honourable mention for being the only one (I think) to head up the central bank of two different countries.

#3

I like Ben’s beard, he gets my vote.

#4

Thoughts on Greenspan, Vlocker?

#5

Although I won´t consider him the best or worst central banker, I think Greenspan faced a lot of challenges during his nearly 20 year term: banking crisis end of the 80s, tequila crisis mid-90s, LTCM desaster end 90s, Dotcom bubble and 9/11. And he was an influential advisor of many US presidents, esp. for…

…Ronald Reagan. surprise

#6

i rate central bankers by their ability to instill confidence despite taking extreme measures. by that measure. bernank takes the top. oh and i hate volcker. but the beard is a good selling point too.

#7

I find Yellen quite bad… but what is more troubling is how similar the last Fed guys are… I think more diversity would be welcome there. Also the communication is not good, and some guys like Bullard are really not helping.

In terms of bringing confidence, I think Draghi is the best. With promises he can clearly not hold and very counter productive comments from eurozone finance minister and economists, he manages to keep europe altogether.

#8

Oh yes, that little piece of info slipped off my mind - I still remember how parliament burst into laughter when David announced…because he’s Canadian, he’s still technically eligible

He’s done a good job, though not sure if that is worth putting him right up the stack. I respect a few others more for the level of technical challenge they’re having to deal with.

#9

You cannot possibly call LTCM a disaster mate, yes it was a big problem, but not a “disaster” for a central bank chair. As for asset class bubbles (banking, dotcom, etc) and terrorist attacks, those too are not that big a central bank problem either I think - isn’t it expected that at some point in his/her tenure >1 asset class will get in choppy waters?

For me personally, issues really worth saluting someone are things like Draghi is facing for the genuinely unconventional nature of problems. I mean the man couldn’t even innaugurate his office, without causing DAX to tank >1%…imagine being that guy

#10

^ My view on central bankers is that the less you hear of them, the better.

#11

^ Yes, I agree - completely.

#12

Just like referees in sports.

#13

The Liberal party tried desperately to convince him to become their leader after the 2011 election.

#14

I think one of the interesting things about central bankers is that you often cannot judge their performance until long after they are out of office. A good case in point is Greenspan where he was regarded as a great central banker while in office but when the financial crisis hit many regarded his policies as the primary cause of the housing crash. It is too early to cast judgements on Yellen and Draghi in my opinion.

#15

I think it’s important to keep in mind the fed chairman is just the talking head of the institution. Decisions aren’t made by one person so it’s often difficult to tell who was a good ‘leader’ vs. a good policy setter. Committee > Fed chairman

With Greenspan, if you read some of his white papers he’s written in the past, it’s clear he knew there was a housing issue (due to speculation and crappy underwriting standards) and a equity bubble in the late 90’s. Why he couldn’t get the committee to act on it more aggressively is beyond me.

#16

^ The Greenspan put. The market knew if would never remove the punch bowl.