APPENDIX Booklets submitted by Mr. Sindlinger for inclusion in the record: (1) The Advantages of Being a Monk. (2) The Monks of the Monetary Monastery. (3) The Pleasure of Statistical Narcissism (Book 1): Chapters I and II: "Why the Seasonal Adjustment Is Now Chapter III: "Fed's M1 for 1973." Chapter VI:"Fed's M1 for 1976." In the world of theology, a monk's life is not an easy one. The monk may be free from the pressures of the world but surrenders all vestiges of material pleasure for such peace. Within the monastery walls, the monk lives a spare life of contemplation, self-denial and devotion. A monks reward is strictly the satisfaction of being able to survive these rigors while maintaining faith in God. In the secular world, there is another type of monk. His religion is monetarism. He is the people's money manager. His catechism is outmoded orthodox economic theory and the dubious concept of the unreal seasonal adjustment i.e., to make something that is real look like something that is not. Like Disneyland. Monks are cloistered from the pressures of the world. (181) Unlike, his religious double, monks are free to pursue all the worldly pleasures of life. Many of these monks work for the Federal Reserve Board. There a monk's life is conducted as one continuing series of pleasant, often posh monasteries. Each morning, the Fed monk disappears inside the Federal Reserve Building monastery on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. He can look out the window of his air-conditioned office and see parks, trees and flowers. At his disposal are the latest advances in modern technology such as computers and communications equipment, and seasonal adjustment machines to smooth things out of reality. There are no facilities to read raw counts. The Fed monastery even has a status that is unique among Washington monasteries. It is not really a government agency. It's independent. It is supposed to be the closest thing to a profit-making organization within the bureaucracy. It is the equivalent of a central bank, which dates back to the actual monks of Ancient Europe. Yet, the U.S. Fed monk has none of the worldly problems of your everyday banker, or businessman. A Fed monk doesn't have to meet a payroll, fret about rising costs, worry about keeping profits respectable, head off a strike, pay bills, or guarantee that his organization pays its taxes to its government for his services. When the work day is over, the Fed monk gets into his car (never rides a bus) which becomes a mobile mini-monastery. |