Now that Paul Ryan has received the Republican nomination for Vice-President, there is a resurgence of interest in the writings of Ayn Rand. The hero in her books is always an intense, self-confident, self-made man who fights over-whelming odds to remain true to his beliefs.
Ryan required his staff to read her book Atlas Shrugged, which describes how John Galt organizes a secret army of entrepreneurs seeking to avoid efforts to crush them by the central government. This paranoia about government energizes and drives the Tea Party. It is understandable that a refugee from the Communist revolution, like Ayn Rand, would be so focused on this possibility. It is also understandable that such a story would resonate so strongly in a nation proud of having fought for its independence.
However, there is much to be learned from her other books. In Fountainhead, the hero is Howard Roark, who is a brilliant architect that insists on designing buildings differently. The architectural "establishment" and builders condemn him for championing a design that nobody likes. Mr. Roark loses all his clients and is forced to become a common laborer but NEVER stops insisting he is right. (Of course, he prevails in the end.)
In other words, Mr. Roark was not persecuted by government but was persecuted by his peers for not conforming. Perhaps, that takes even more courage. It is certainly more lonely.
Ben Bernanke could have refused to exercise his power as Chairman of the Federal Reserve system to make monetary policy responsive to a rapidly weakening economy in 2008. He could have conformed to the wisdom of central bankers everywhere -- that good monetary policy cannot fix bad fiscal policy or that bankers cannot fix what elected politicians do wrong. Bernanke argued that this is certainly true in the long-run, but monetary policy can buy enough time for slower-moving politicians to fix their mess in the short-run. It also demonstrates a certain faith in the political process. He behaved like Howard Roark in Fountainhead, standing up to his peers.
Mario Draghi is Chairman of the European Central Bank, the central banker of Europe. He is clearly following the lead of activist central-banker Bernanke. He has committed himself to saving Europe. Like the Tea Party here that believes Bernanke is the problem, the Germans and Finns claim Draghi also doesn't have the power or authority to save anybody. Like Bernanke here, Draghi has said "not on my watch" will there be a full-blown depression. I wish him well.
The world economy was healthy when Bernanke moved desperately to prevent a depression here. However, the world economy is not healthy enough now to survive a real depression in Europe. A European collapse would more likely cause a global collapse.
I lose no sleep worrying about Federal storm-troopers swooping down in black helicopters, not in a nation of 310 million people with 440 million guns. I do lose sleep worrying that I won't see freighters passing my home, going in and out of the harbor, that I won't hear airplanes landing at the Norfolk airport, that we have a global depression.
Bernanke and Draghi behave like Howard Roark. They rail against the wind, against the conventional wisdom. In the end, Roark was redeemed, as I believe Bernanke and Draghi will be.
Ryan required his staff to read her book Atlas Shrugged, which describes how John Galt organizes a secret army of entrepreneurs seeking to avoid efforts to crush them by the central government. This paranoia about government energizes and drives the Tea Party. It is understandable that a refugee from the Communist revolution, like Ayn Rand, would be so focused on this possibility. It is also understandable that such a story would resonate so strongly in a nation proud of having fought for its independence.
However, there is much to be learned from her other books. In Fountainhead, the hero is Howard Roark, who is a brilliant architect that insists on designing buildings differently. The architectural "establishment" and builders condemn him for championing a design that nobody likes. Mr. Roark loses all his clients and is forced to become a common laborer but NEVER stops insisting he is right. (Of course, he prevails in the end.)
In other words, Mr. Roark was not persecuted by government but was persecuted by his peers for not conforming. Perhaps, that takes even more courage. It is certainly more lonely.
Ben Bernanke could have refused to exercise his power as Chairman of the Federal Reserve system to make monetary policy responsive to a rapidly weakening economy in 2008. He could have conformed to the wisdom of central bankers everywhere -- that good monetary policy cannot fix bad fiscal policy or that bankers cannot fix what elected politicians do wrong. Bernanke argued that this is certainly true in the long-run, but monetary policy can buy enough time for slower-moving politicians to fix their mess in the short-run. It also demonstrates a certain faith in the political process. He behaved like Howard Roark in Fountainhead, standing up to his peers.
Mario Draghi is Chairman of the European Central Bank, the central banker of Europe. He is clearly following the lead of activist central-banker Bernanke. He has committed himself to saving Europe. Like the Tea Party here that believes Bernanke is the problem, the Germans and Finns claim Draghi also doesn't have the power or authority to save anybody. Like Bernanke here, Draghi has said "not on my watch" will there be a full-blown depression. I wish him well.
The world economy was healthy when Bernanke moved desperately to prevent a depression here. However, the world economy is not healthy enough now to survive a real depression in Europe. A European collapse would more likely cause a global collapse.
I lose no sleep worrying about Federal storm-troopers swooping down in black helicopters, not in a nation of 310 million people with 440 million guns. I do lose sleep worrying that I won't see freighters passing my home, going in and out of the harbor, that I won't hear airplanes landing at the Norfolk airport, that we have a global depression.
Bernanke and Draghi behave like Howard Roark. They rail against the wind, against the conventional wisdom. In the end, Roark was redeemed, as I believe Bernanke and Draghi will be.
