Back to the question, using part of that image: The president (or Prime Minister) is the first violinist. The band is the whole administration. And he who calls the tune is the economy, especially the network of giant companies that use money to magically make more money.

Politician, I think, have far less power than we would believe. They may be the "big dog", but they cannot run freely; their tail is trapped by a golden fist. This is how it works. I am not talking only about the fact that a politician won't be elected without the solid support of some companies or rich men, but when he makes his decisions in his office, his pecker is always in the pocket of his backers, as Joseph Heller put it.

The economy then can be seen as a giant medusa rolling forward at a reliable speed. If there is a gap dug by politicians, the economic medusa surges over. If there is a fence or other obstacle built by politics, the medusa demolishes it or rounds it. The medusa goes where the medusa wants. It can be slowed a bit, but only temporarily. Even wars do not stop the economic medusa. They might even accelerate it.

Thus, the political turmoil can never derail the world economy. Rather, the economy can diminish or dissolve turmoil when its interests are disturbed by it. Seemingly, the turmoil of these years are tolerable for the rulers of the world economy. Why? Because the economic medusa is a predator. And, hunting in the troubled air might be somewhat easier than doing it when there is a world in good shape for order and peace.

In Hungary, two or three big investment companies and five or six big banks pay for the music. Lately, one of the huge banks simply blocked a decision of the government (about a new tax on interests). A giant can manufacturer blocked another decision (that one also about taxes) with the simple threat that it would move its factories into a neighboring country. What can be said? People who can run gigantic companies are able to run a country better than the professional politicians who are only good at mending fences. I trust the businessmen more than the congressmen.

All in all, we should not worry at the omnipotence of the economic medusa. Good politicians should try to redirect the medusa when it can, by all means. In other cases, the economic medusa may force wayward administrations to stop its wars. Let's pray that not too many of us will die on the battlefields before one of them gets it right.