of financial times includes an excellent interview with author Giuliano da Empoli that discusses the use and abuse of political power. Here he evaluates Vladimir Putin as follows:
„I think he knows he made a strategic mistake (invading). But one of the rules of such a force is never to back down, to show no signs of absolute will and conviction. No. He wasn’t strong enough to impose his orders on Ukraine. But he might be strong enough to cause chaos in Ukraine. And he used that opportunity to strengthen internal order and push it away. We made it more ruthless. So far, it’s working.“ Putin’s „mistake,“ he concludes, may be „playing not so badly.“
This is one reason why I favor market-based rules over discretion in monetary policy. Markets are willing to admit their mistakes and change course, while individual policy makers stubbornly persist in their failed policies.
Like me, da Empoli is also very pessimistic about current trends.
I am one of them, so I am also suffering in Italy. I can’t stand the quality of public forums, I can’t even turn on the TV, I can barely open a newspaper. The media ecosystem that shapes public discourse, including conspiracy theories and all kinds of weirdness, is highly degraded. Everything is going in the wrong direction.
I don’t think the US is the only country suffering from this virus. This led him to be satisfied with a flawed system that could at least maintain some kind of civilization.
Da Empoli has peered into the depths of power. Does he still have political ideals? „If you had asked me in the past, I would have given you a lot of certainty. But what remains for me now is the idea that let’s try not to kill each other. We are a European Union. I’ve managed to not exhibit such behavior for an unusual period of time in . It seemed dull, but it’s not dull anymore and I think it’s less noticeable. So this European one is the only one I have. It’s a strong ideal.“
In my last post, I said that the most successful financial systems are boring. The same goes for politics. Can you name the president of Switzerland? I can’t. Can you name the leaders of Venezuela and North Korea? Yes. However, Switzerland is in many ways a far more important country and plays an important role in the global economy. Why don’t we care who leads? Probably because it doesn’t matter.
As he looked out at the customers at Jack’s, he said: „In Russia, power is a big beast. In Switzerland, power is a kitten and has been tamed. Throughout history, it has been diluted and dispersed at the local level and through referendums. Swiss politicians are boring. . That’s a very good thing. The more spectacular a political system is, the worse it is in many ways.“
Please read the whole thing.