Above the Fold

Volcker’s Legacy

The man who helped quell runaway inflation during his 8-year tenure as Federal (“Fed”) Reserve Chair between 1979 and 1987, died at age 92 Sunday. Volcker was a frugal man by many accounts. According to The New York Times, he chose to smoke drug-store cigars, wear cheap suits and even lived in a humble apartment building filled with young George Washington University students, without a laundry room, while serving as Fed Chief. 

Volcker also served in the Treasury Department and various other roles under Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, supporting financial reform, and the post-war Bretton Woods accord that established fixed exchange rates between central banks, and rid the world of the gold standard, while adopting the U.S. Dollar as the globe’s official world currency. 

His tactics were shrewd, and at one point, he was one of the most unpopular Fed chiefs in history after pushing interest rates as high as 20%, triggering a recession, in order to end seemingly unstoppable inflation in the early 80s. 

Mr. Volcker was again tapped after retiring by President Obama during the Great Recession. Volcker once again gained popularity and arguably some notoriety with his “Volcker Rule,” which restricted banks from certain investment activities and barred banking institutions from acquiring or retaining ownership interests in hedge funds or private equity funds, with some exemptions.

Though opinions differ on his tactics, Volcker certainly left an indelible mark on our financial system and devoted a great part of his life to the betterment of our nation — even if it meant making unpopular choices.    

Three Things

1. “Rocketman” Strikes Again – Four days ago, North Korea offered a cryptic message, promising to send a “Christmas gift” to the United States. A couple days later, the communist nation announced that a “successful test of great significance” had been carried out at its Sohae satellite launch site. The latest taunts by Kim Jung Un’s hermit nation undermine the Denuclearization Agreement signed by Un and President Trump in 2018, which could lead to renewed tensions between the two nations. 
2. Why Russia’s Doping Ban Does Little – Russia has had a total of 43 Olympic medals stripped for doping — far more than any other country. Yesterday, the World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia from competing in any international sports for 4 years,  including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2022 World Cup. Despite the ban, Russian athletes will still be able to compete as “Olympic Athletes from Russia,” in both individual and team events, just as 168 athletes did in the 2018 Winter Games. 
3. Netflix Owns Golden Globes – The streaming powerhouse continued to deliver exceptional, original content. Netflix racked up 34 award nominations across the movie and television categories, with a whopping 17 motion picture nods, more than double the eight received by its closest rival, Sony Pictures. HBO was second in the TV category nominations with a total of 15 — two less than Netflix. The 77th Golden Globes ceremony will be held Jan. 5 in Beverly Hills. 

Did You Know?

A Christmas Tree Story

Long before Christianity, people adorned their homes in winter with evergreen boughs to keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits and even sickness. 

Sixteenth century Germans can be credited with the modern Christmas tree tradition when devout Christians would erect wooden pyramids, decorated with evergreens and candles, while some brought in fully decorated, small trees (usually about 4 feet in height) that were placed near windows for all to see. 

Christmas trees were reportedly seen in America as early as 1747, but the trees were still seen by many as pagan symbols up until the 1840s. It wasn’t until the 1890s that trees become more commonplace, typically decorated with imported German ornaments.