Mises Wire

Surprise, Surprise--Monetary Insiders Do not Like to Be Surprised by Central Bankers

Mises Wire Joseph T. Salerno

Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF, revealed that it was a  "a bit of a surprise" that she was not informed in advance of the Swiss National Bank's decision to dissolve the the inflationary peg with the euro.  Of course, the modus operandi of central banks is to keep the public in the dark about their imminent changes in policy or to prevaricate about them.  The high-minded justification for such secrecy and dissembling is to prevent turmoil in the markets, to punish wayward and irresponsible speculators who are roiling markets, etc.  But surely such sensitive inside information should be passed along to the IMF chief and her cronies--purely in the interests of policy coordination of course.

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