Is Janet Yellen The Modern Day Oracle of Delphi? - oracle

Wall Street likens Fed head Janet Yellen to the all knowing Oracle of Delphi. So who exactly is the Oracle of Delphi? Via Wikipedia:

"The Pythia commonly known as the Oracle of Delphi, was the name given to the priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi who served as the oracle.

 

The Pythia was established in the 8th century BC, and was widely credited for her prophecies inspired by being filled by the spirit of the god (or enthusiasmos), in this case Apollo. The Pythian priestess emerged pre-eminent by the end of 7th century BC and would continue to be consulted until the 4th century AD. During this period the Delphic Oracle was the most prestigious and authoritative oracle among the Greeks, and she was without doubt the most powerful woman of the classical world. The oracle is one of the best-documented religious institutions of the classical Greeks. 

 

The name "Pythia" is derived from Pytho, which in myth was the original name of Delphi. In etymology the Greeks derived this place name from the verb, pythein(πύθειν, "to rot"), which refers to the sickly sweet smell of the decomposition of the body of the monstrous Python after he was slain by Apollo. Pythia was the House of Snakes.

 

One of the main stories was that the Pythia delivered oracles in a frenzied state induced by vapours rising from a chasm in the rock, and that she spoke gibberish which priests interpreted as the enigmatic prophecies preserved in Greek literature."

 

Janet Yellen certainly spouts her fair share of economic gibberish. 

***The Fed's rosy economic outlook is undoubtedly pie in the sky. Here's what we think would happen if the Fed raises interest rates... It ain't good.