FOOL IN THE SHOWER

The notion that policies designed to change the economy’s course should be done slowly, instead of all at once. The phrase is attributed to Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, who likened a central bank that acted too forcefully to a fool in the shower. When the fool realizes that the water is too cold, he turns on the hot water. However, the hot water takes a while to arrive, so the fool simply turns the hot water up all the way, eventually scalding himself.