Stanley Fisher Is Managing Israel

Bloomberg has published a strangely positive note on Israel's economy and the shekel has jumped ipso facto 10%, making every Israeli saver 10% richer. Ha ha ha. Keep writing, Bloomberg, and thanks to good old Stanley Fisher (pic). Thanks also to Zimbabwe's rulers who caused Stanley (and many other precious Rhodesians) to make aliyah to Kever Benjamin City and environs. Thanks also to the United States for choosing Ben Bernanke instead of Stanley, making him so angry that he burned (figuratively) his American passport.

The Bank of Israel’s reserves have grown to the equivalent of 27.5 percent of gross domestic product, 1 percentage point more than the average for OPEC nations and 23 percentage points higher than the average of G-7 governments, according to Bloomberg data. Israeli holdings increased 53.4 percent in the year to April 30, the fastest growth for any country with annual gross domestic product above $150 billion, the data show.
As of last month, the Bank of Israel had enough reserves to cover the nation’s $33 billion of short-term debt, said Caroline Grady, a London-based economist at Deutsche Bank AG, Germany’s biggest bank. “If you’re a foreign investor and you see a country has increasing foreign reserves, you say this country looks sound,” said Vered Dar, chief economist at Psagot Ofek Investment House in Tel Aviv, which manages 106 billion shekels ($26.4 billion). “If worst comes to worst, this country will pay out their debt from their own pocket.” The shekel has become the most stable emerging-market currency in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. (What about the USA?)