Neptune's Dolphins

 

Later at 82 years old, Volcker was asked by President Barack Obama to resolve the collapse of U.S. banking. This had resulted in the 2008 Financial Collapse, which paralyzed the economy. Volcker established the Volcker Rule, which was enacted in 2015, to govern investment banking.

 

A very tall man (6 feet 7 inches), Volcker said that as a teenager, he was “big, tall, and gangly.” He was so tall that the U.S. Army rejected him when he was drafted in 1945. A quiet man, he preferred to listen since everyone usually just stared at him. Throughout his life, Volcker was known as “Tall Paul” or “The Tall Man.” Walking down the street, he stood head and shoulders above everyone else. Since he was always noticed, Volcker decided to live life on his own terms. Therefore, he stood tall, smoked cheap cigars, and scrunched up his socks. Coming to terms with his size freed Volcker from conforming to the expectations of others. He would forge his own path doing what he thought was right and good.

 

Many people admired Volcker for his independence. Ben Bernake, Chair of the Federal Reserve (2006- 2014), said of him, “Volcker came to represent independence. He personified the idea of doing something politically unpopular but economically necessary.” Alan Blinder, Former Vice-Chair of the Federal Reserve (1994-96), said “I would describe him as having the integrity and will of 10 men.”

 

While Undersecretary of the Treasury, Volcker had advised President Richard Nixon to go off the Gold Standard. During the 1970s, the Bretton Woods System, set-up in 1944 to stabilize global exchange rates, fell apart. World currencies were pegged to the U.S. dollar since the U.S. had the gold to back its dollar. However, the dramatic increase in printed money brought about by the Vietnam War, could not be backed in gold. Therefore, Nixon took the U.S. off of the Gold Standard. Now that the dollar was not pegged to anything, prices rose until inflation was ten percent.

 

Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 to be the Chair of the Federal Reserve, Volcker had to stop the rampant inflation. To do this, he raised interest rates to twenty percent. The Volcker Shock shut down the economy. People were in deep pain. Farmers surrounded the Board Building (Note 2) with their tractors. Realtors sent in wood blocks addressed to Volcker complaining that mortgage rates were too high. Car dealers sent in keys of unsold cars. When Volcker left the Federal Reserve in 1987, inflation had fallen to 3.4 percent, which became the norm for the next forty years.

 

After leaving the Federal Reserve, Volcker continued to serve the public interest as a private citizen. For example, the Volcker Commission (Independent Committee of Eminent Persons (ICEP)) was established in 1996 to examine the accounts of Holocaust victims in Swiss banks. He had been asked by both the Swiss bankers and Jewish organizations to head the Commission. In an interview recalling this, Volcker said that the two groups trusted him to deal fairly with this explosive and delicate situation. The Commission examined over six million accounts from 1933 to 1945. In 1999, the Commission reached a settlement of $U.S.1.25 billion dollars to be paid by the banks to the survivors and their families.

 

In 2009, Volcker was asked by President Barack Obama to resolve the collapse of U.S. banking. At a news conference introducing him as the head of his new Board (Note 3), President Obama referred to Volcker as “the tall guy behind me.” According to Volcker, the termination of the Glass-Steagall Act (enacted in 1933 to govern banking) in 1999 allowed the American banks to co-mingle their commercial and investment banking. He concluded that banks should not be allowed to engage in speculation especially with customers’ deposits. Therefore, he wrote The Volcker Rule to ban banks from using customers’ money for their own profits (proprietary trading). Banks could not become involved high-risk investments. In 2015, the Volcker Rule went into effect as part of the Dodd-Frank Act.

 

Because of his size, Volcker also had the force of personality. Testifying before the U.S. Congress about implementing his Rule, he told Congress, “I may not live long enough to see the crisis end. But my soul is going to come back and haunt you.”

 

When asked about Paul Volcker, Anne-Marie Slaughter, former Dean of the Wilson School, said, “He was refreshingly blunt. He said what he thought whether you were going to like it or not. He really did represent an ideal of public service that he took very seriously in his lifestyle as well as his career.” About his death, she observed, “It is really as if a giant tree has fallen in the forest.”

 

Notes:

Note 1. Volcker’s full title was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Note 2. This building housed the offices of the Chairman and the Governors.

Note 3. The President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB).

 

Works Used:

Amadeo, Kimberly, “The 6’7″ Giant Who Ended Stagflation and Has His Own Rule,” The Balance: Money, 30 October 2021. Web. https://www.thebalancemoney.com/who-is-paul-volcker-3306157.

—-, “The Volcker Rule and How It Protects You,” The Balance: Money, 4 March, 2021. Web. https://www.thebalancemoney.com/volcker-rule-summary-3305905.

Bohan, Caren and Kristina Cooke, “Cheap cigars, politics and the Volcker Rule,” Reuters: Business News, 12 March 2010. Web. https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62B2YN20100312?type=politicsNews.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, “Paul A. Volcker”, Federal Reserve History, 2013. Web. https://www.federalreservehistory.org/people/paul-a-volcker.

Federal Reserve Board of Governors, “Federal Reserve Oral History Interviews.” 2013. Web. https://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/centennial/federal-reserve-oral-history-interviews.htm.

Gelinas, Nicole, “The Tall Man,” The City Journal, 10 December 2019. Web.https://www.city-journal.org/paul-volcker.

Shen, Allen, “‘The Integrity and Will of Ten Men’: the Life of Paul Volcker ’49,” Daily Princetonian, 9 January 2020. Web. https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2020/01/the-integrity-and-will-of-ten-men-the-life-of-paul-volcker-49-obit.

 

In Polytheistic traditions, various humans have been honored as Heroes, while others are raised to be Gods. Heroes are more than human but less a God. Meanwhile, “Deified Humans” (Note 1), having shed their humanity, are Gods.

 

Heroes are the Extraordinary Dead, regarded by others for their greatness. Since they are the examples of ideals such as courage or virtue, Heroes can be asked to help the living. A person would make offerings and ask for strength from Hercules or piety from Aeneas.

 

A notable Roman Hero is Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (519 -430 BCE), farmer, general, and statesman. He was plowing his fields when the Senate appointed him dictator to defend Rome against the Aequi. Leaving his farm, Cincinnatus called together the Roman men and led them to victory. Afterwards, he gave up his dictatorship and returned to his farm. Cincinnatus is the model for public service.

 

Also, Heroes can be part human and God. Gilgamesh, King of Uruk (Sumer) is described as being one third human and two-thirds God. Romulus and his twin Remus of Rome have Mars as their father and Rhea Silvia, a Vestal Virgin. Hercules’ father is Zeus, while his mother is the human Alcmene.

 

Deified Humans are people who have been raised to be Gods (apotheosis) (Note 2). For example, the Egyptians raised the physician and architect Imhotep to be the God of Medicine and Healing. First, He was a chancellor to the Pharoah Djoser about 2600 BCE. In early Egypt, Imhotep was noted for his advances in medicine. Shortly after his death, He became a demi-god. Over time, people raised Imhotep to Godhood, calling Him “the Son of Ptah.” By 525 BCE, He was the Divine Healer.

 

The Romans raised Romulus to Godhood. After ruling Rome as its first king, He was taken up in a whirlwind by his father Mars. Then Romulus became known as Quirinus, the God of the Romans (who were referred as “Quirites.” (Note 3)). Being Quirinus, He guided the Roman people and the State.

 

Even today, people still deify humans and revere new Heroes. Modern Polytheists believe the musician Jim Morrison to be the incarnation of Dionysus. After his death, various Neo-Pagans deified David Bowie as a God. In the U.S. Capitol Building, at the Rotunda is the “Apotheosis of Washington.” This painting depicts George Washington rising to the heavens with Liberty and Victory.

 

Notes:

Note 1. In contrast, “Divine Humans” is a New Age theory that humans are essentially Divine beings.

Note 2. One academic theory is that the Gods are originally humans, who achieved divine status over time. However, early Polytheists in their practices did differentiate between the Eternal Gods and Deified Heroes.

Note 3. Romans in their civil capacity are “Quirites”, and “Romani” in their military one.