Where might finance ministers find economic inspiration? The works of John Maynard Keynes, perhaps? Paul Krugman or Nouriel Roubini? Not Australia’s treasurer Wayne Swan. The man named Finance Minister of the Year in 2011 by Euromoney magazine turns instead to the Boss.
Swan has named Bruce Springsteen as one of his economic heroes. “You can hear Springsteen singing about the shifting foundations of the US economy which the economists took much longer to detect, and which of course everyone is talking about now,” Swan said in a lecture to members of the ruling Labor party.
Coming from Wayne Swan, this is a dubious compliment to the Boss.
I can’t tell what makes Swan tick, obviously, but to me this sounds like an attempt, and a rather feeble one at that, to re-connect with Labor’s power base.
If you think about it, rather similar to what I understand happened ages ago, when I believe the Reagan team appropriated Born in the USA (of all songs!) as their campaign musical theme.
Actually, the “economist of the day” is Springston, not Swan!
Ah! That’s more like it!