PORT TOWNSEND, Wash. (MarketWatch) — Imagine Ben Bernanke being described as a “fiscal and economic rock star.”
Or envision a major U.S. financial publication touting Bernanke as a possible Presidential — or, in this case, Prime Ministerial — candidate.
That’s exactly what’s been happening in Canada the past few months, the country’s central banker, Mark Carney, being hoist upon one pedestal after another.
The handsome, pleasant and even-keeled Carney even appeared on a recent flier for an upscale haberdashery chain. Fiscal fashion?
Carney, who’s never run for political office and has shown no sign he will (maybe he’ll be bank-drafted?) seems quite content to be the nation’s economic father figure, a symbol of Canada’s strong economy and sound banking system — and also, its stern-lecturer-in-chief, blasting big banks in the U.S. for taking risks and Canadian consumers for taking on too much debt.
Carney-mania may have reached a new high last week when Terence Corcoran, editor of the influential Financial Post, wrote a column exploring the possibility of a Prime Minister Carney with the headline of, well, “Prime Minister Carney?”
Corcoran said gossip — always a firm foundation for a story — has it that Carney has political ambitions and “may even have his long-term eye on the Prime Minister’s job.” Then again, for all we know, Carney may also have his eye on a new Volvo S80 sedan.
via Carney-mania in full swing in Canada – Bill Mann’s Canada – MarketWatch.
Oh… my… gawd. They said similar things about Greenspan in the US until 2006. Remember “the maestro?”
Canada only looks good because it’s in the midst of a massive, credit fueled, foreign cash fueled real estate bubbles. You know there’s a problem when 1000 square foot 3 bedroom bungalows in the Toronto suburbs are over $400k. So this too shall pass, with a thud, when the time comes. Canada is like the US with a 7 year lag. – Lee Adler
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