“When you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die.” – Cersei Lannister
I was late to Season 6 of Game of Thrones (while buried in writing my next book Artisans of Money.) If you have never watchedGame of Thrones, a) do so immediately and b) here’s the nutshell. The show, based on the book series, depicts a land in which several kingdoms are duking it out for the Iron Throne, the symbol of absolute power. Think the board game “Risk” except with dragons, magic, an army of the dead, and lots of blood.
While I was watching, I couldn’t help noticing that its backdrop is a dead ringer for central banks’ strategy. The Fed clings to status quo. Other central banks are vying to knock it down, or at least loosen its grip on them. But the Fed behaves as if it hasno idea there are other powerful central banks that want to grab and harness its power. It carries on refusing to acknowledge that there may come a time, sooner rather than later, where its power is attacked.
The ramifications of such an attack will impact the standing of the U.S. in the world. The Fed can carry on being oblivious, but Game of Thrones illustrates the struggles playing out right now.
In the Game of Thrones world, emerging queen, Daenerys Targaryen is biding her time and building her army. She is creating alliances in Meereen, an ancient country in the East (her awesome fire-breathing dragons in tow). She’s playing the long game, strategically planning when to elevate the fight against the ruling queen in the West, Cersei Lannister.
The most important part of Daenerys’ story is not that she is determined to rule the seven kingdoms and take possession of the Iron Throne. It’s that she knows she can’t do it alone. So she aligns reinforcements, smaller power bases.
These smaller partners may or may not have allegiance to her based on the legitimacy of her claim to power — but they have all been wronged by the Lannister’s. This family, currently led by Cersei Lannister, is extremely wealthy and powerful, but hasn’t managed to lead the western kingdom, Westeros, to wealth and power. In fact, the people in Westeros are becoming increasingly frustrated and scared of their rulers. (You see the similarities?)
Not only has Cersei managed to create enemies out of the smaller families that surround her, she recently massacred a large portion of the city she rules to protect her own interests. She is losing her power domestically and globally, but continues to think and act as if she will rule forever. We’ll see what happens next season.
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