« Who's the Pope of Market Religion? »

The chair of the Federal Reserve Bank occupies the seat of The Market religion’s high priest or pope. Heads of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Treasury Department, Goldman Sachs, large financial institutions and too-big-to-fail banks are leading clerics. They interpret to others the mysteries of The Market and its “invisible hand.” They decide on what theology of The Market, Mammon, Growth, and other deities fits the orthodox creed of the present and what does not. They determine what is right and wrong practice for the priesthood, as well as the staff they supervise throughout the economy.

They get a hand from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission which oversees the Wall Street traders and fund managers. But given all the speculation and corruption, the oversight has a lot of overlook in it. Nonetheless, just watch what the markets do when Pope Bernanke talks.