I think the sad part is that there is this co-dependant relationship that is no good. Traders/investors have been trained to not go against the FED or CB's. But these institutions cannot in any way ever predict doom and gloom. In many ways, it would lead to panic and cause more harm. Even if the outlook is grim, they have to put a positive spin on it. So even though there are perhaps some smart people within these institutions, their hands are bound from saying it like it is.
The trouble is that the public expects that the government won't steer them wrong, and I think that for the most part, the government would like it if it was always able to do good things (of course their own survival is more important than that of everyone else, but that is a whole different issue). The trouble comes when the government realizes that they can't control it as well as they thought they could. Being honest about the situation would cause panic, so that is not an available option. The only option is to lie and hope for the best. The trouble is that the public has expectations that the government will act in everyone's best interest. First of all, there is never any way to govern that is in everyone's best interest (someone has to take it for the team), and second, the best interests for the majority is to not create panic. So the only option is to lie.
In many ways, you can't blame the government any more so than you can blame a person for lying who committed a crime and pleading innocent. You expect each accused person to say innocent and hope for some miracle of getting off by way of a technicality, just like the government prays for a miraculous turnaround, while being fully aware behind closed doors that things don't look good.
When you are bound by the idea that you cannot create panic as the highest principle, lying is the only option.
