So Mr. Bernanke is “hoping” the recession could end later this year, but he cautioned that a full economic recovery will take "more than two or three years". Then he added: “This outlook for economic activity is subject to considerable uncertainty”.
When I was growing up in Lebanon, ladies would gather every morning for a cup of coffee followed by the traditional cup-reading event. That’s when a so-called fortune teller read the shapes left by heavy coffee sediments at the bottom of your cup. As a kid, I was amazed at first and always wondered why that lady couldn’t better her family or financial situation given her obvious gift. Then I started realizing there was a pattern to what the wicked old lady was saying. It was worthless and open-ended leaving a big room for speculations and interpretations. She would say things like: “You will receive good news after 3 signs”, that meant 3 minutes or 3 years! Or “You will receive a big sum of money, but the person delivering it might decide to keep the money and never tell you about it”. Wait, wait, what money? Who is stealing my money? Or she could add “In the future, I see your daughter getting married to someone she is not sure about”. Good luck proving that one!!!
Based on this enlightening experience, I believe the fortune teller from my childhood became so good at it that she grew a beard and called herself Mr. Bernanke. How are his statements different from consulting the horoscope page? I also really believe President Obama when he says that we will recover, but as they say “there is sunshine after the rain”. The real question is "when?" And how will our leaders contribute to the recovery?
The sad truth is that our leaders are speculating, or to use Mr. Bernanke’s word: “hoping”. In the meantime, business leaders need to use this time of chaos to clean up their business model and operations. At least this way, they can be ready for when the market comes back “after 3 signs”.
When I was growing up in Lebanon, ladies would gather every morning for a cup of coffee followed by the traditional cup-reading event. That’s when a so-called fortune teller read the shapes left by heavy coffee sediments at the bottom of your cup. As a kid, I was amazed at first and always wondered why that lady couldn’t better her family or financial situation given her obvious gift. Then I started realizing there was a pattern to what the wicked old lady was saying. It was worthless and open-ended leaving a big room for speculations and interpretations. She would say things like: “You will receive good news after 3 signs”, that meant 3 minutes or 3 years! Or “You will receive a big sum of money, but the person delivering it might decide to keep the money and never tell you about it”. Wait, wait, what money? Who is stealing my money? Or she could add “In the future, I see your daughter getting married to someone she is not sure about”. Good luck proving that one!!!
Based on this enlightening experience, I believe the fortune teller from my childhood became so good at it that she grew a beard and called herself Mr. Bernanke. How are his statements different from consulting the horoscope page? I also really believe President Obama when he says that we will recover, but as they say “there is sunshine after the rain”. The real question is "when?" And how will our leaders contribute to the recovery?The sad truth is that our leaders are speculating, or to use Mr. Bernanke’s word: “hoping”. In the meantime, business leaders need to use this time of chaos to clean up their business model and operations. At least this way, they can be ready for when the market comes back “after 3 signs”.
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