Admittedly, Paul Volcker (Paul Volcker) there are no happier than when trout fishing in the river, away from the chaos in New York and Washington.
Then, the former Fed chairman will be happy during the long hours of counting the catch, and after, enjoy the friendly atmosphere in the company of fishermen. "While fishing, he gets a treat," - says Jim Wolfensohn (Jim Wolfensohn), former head of the World Bank, which offered Volcker work in his investment firm, when the latter was leaving the Fed. "It allows you to protect your vacation, and no one asked his opinion regarding interest rates."
Such patience is now helping a fisherman Volcker. Almost exactly a year ago, Walker presented a report in which he called for the imposition of restrictions on banks engaged in risky activities, such as its own trading operations and, thus, continue to receive support from taxpayers to deposit insurance.
The report was ignored. Although Walker has played an important role during the election campaign, Obama endorsed as an inexperienced candidate, the whole of last year, it seemed, was in the remote wilderness of political terrain as the lone defender of radical structural reform - almost like a character for ridicule.
The previous head of the Federal Reserve gave an advisory committee to his office. But the actual policy came from the Minister of Finance Tim Geithner (Tim Geithner), head of the National Economic Council, Larry Summers (Larry Summers) and the head of the White House estimated Orszaga Peter (Peter Orszag).
Nevertheless, this week, dominating the former Fed chief, stood on the side of Obama, as president, despite the reservations of some of his senior economic advisers, took advantage of what he called "rule Volcker, the essence of which is prohibited for banks to implement their own trade operations.
It was the second recent triumph Volcker. Three months ago he told his rule his longtime, loyal and patient Secretary Mrs. Anke Dening (Anke Dening). "This is truly an amazing story, who would have guessed this in 82 year," said Tim Collins (Tim Collins), a financier from Wall Street, which saw them at the meeting and noted that both were equally joyous.
For the Volcker and his followers, the return of political influence - it is only the latest episode in a long career in public service.
Born before the Great Depression, September 5, 1927, the son of an official of the city administration, Paul Volcker raised in Tenek, New Jersey. He became an ardent admirer of Brooklyn Dodgers, as former finance minister and an admirer of the same team, Nick Brady (Nick Brady), who also was seen at the dinner.
"We spent about an hour, remembering the guys who played in the World Series 1947", - says Brady.
Walker graduated cum laude from Princeton University, then continued his studies at Harvard to a specialist in public administration, during which he held practice in the Fed. A long stay in the Fed and U.S. Treasury, alternating with work in the private sector, led to his appointment as Fed Chairman Jimmy Carter (Jimmy Carter) in 1979. In this position, he became famous for the fact that inflation destroyed the 1970 cost of enormous losses in production and the number of jobs.
Enormous public figure at that time had always lived modestly. "He smoked cigars for 10 cents, flew regular flights between Washington and New York, has never enjoyed the first class - a real public servant, with his wife, who was not on the cover of the magazine and both are content with modest incomes", - said Wolfensohn.
After leaving his post as Fed chairman for more than two decades ago, Walker assumed the role of elder statesman, rather than chasing a lucrative posts in banks on Wall Street.
In 2005, he was involved in 18-month investigation into corruption in the program of the U.S. "oil for food program. Friends say that he has a sense of duty, experience and progressive streak to address current problems.
"People can be forgiven for what they think of it as the Ultimate bureaucracy, but in reality, he cares about just division of resources that make the country better," - said Wolfensohn.
Long shaken by the lack of the fact that his former protégé of Jerry Corrigan (Gerry Corrigan) called "the art of financial management of the State" on Wall Street, Walker became increasingly critical of the banks since the end of the financial crisis.
In mid 2009, he joked that the only useful recent innovation was the invention of a bank ATM, by the end of last year, he was not joking about this, his worry about the risk and bonuses.
Some bankers retorted that Walker did not come into contact with the world of cyber-finance the 21 st century. His behavior, of course, comes from another era: he refuses to use e-mail - wrote regular letters (or dictates Mrs. Dening), and his hearing aid sometimes brings.
Some bankers, as well as current officials also raise questions about whether the correct target for attack chose Volcker, focusing on their own trading operations of banks that do not play a large role in financial crisis. To differentiate between the risks taken on their own account and risk in the course of providing services, such as support for a stock quote from their own securities markets, securitization, and the provision of financial instruments for individual clients, much easier to clean rhetorically than in practice.
Any serious application of measures relating to services for clients involves the movement of these activities abroad. "I do not think he understands this. There is a clear underestimation of the complexity of global finance ", - said the former official said.
Nevertheless, supporters of the Volcker insisted that he understood the risks better than most modern geeks, and that his proposals are aimed at preventing the next and last financial crisis. In any case, return to the origins resonates as many Republicans and the Democrats.
During one of his recent visits to Capitol Hill, he met with Ron Paul (Ron Paul), a Republican from Texas and author of "End the Fed." Paul half-jokingly said: "I think if someone like you was there - we would have worked much better."
Not surprisingly, after the failure of election in the Massachusetts Senate, Obama has turned to the Volcker plan to implement retaliatory political blow. If Walker and was surprised that he is too experienced, that recognize this.
"He understands that once the catch is, and when some do not. This does not mean that he does not like fish, "- says Brady.
Meanwhile in Washington wits have another story. Walker, growth in the 6-foot-7, and "too big to fail".
The Financial Times
