Central bankers are only human even though some face the strain of accomplishing superhuman tasks.
The downturn in the world economy has not made the job any easier, say those attending the 72nd annual meeting of the Bank for International Settlements on Monday, just one of a large circuit of endless meetings with peers and politicians.
"The job is quite a tough one but it is the job of the central banker to meet these challenges, and understand the trend in financial markets as a result of globalisation, and the risks involved," said Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
But the job takes its toll physically. "I am really tired. They have kept us in meetings from eight in the morning until midnight. And they keep saying the same things," said one top central banker, speaking on the sidelines of the BIS meeting.
When mistakes happen in the job, they tend to be big ones. Thus, it is advisable to think before making any decision.
"When you screw up, you screw up the entire country," one central bank governor here noted.
Apart from moving caravan-fashion from one hotel to the next, the job includes speaking, or not speaking to the press.
The most casual utterance from a central banker to a journalist can move markets, and cause an uproar back home.
Asked by one journalist for his opinion on the dollar, a Latin American central bank governor attending this year's annual BIS meeting merely gestured to show his lips were zipped shut.
Occupational hazards may include one's own government. In Poland, the central bank has resisted pressure from its government to pump up growth with more rate cuts. National Bank Governor Leszek Balcerowicz cites inflation risks from a high budget deficit, even though Poland is languishing in its worst economic slowdown in a decade.
Central bankers tend to argue that accepting a big increase in inflation in the short run to jack up growth will do serious damage to the economy in the long run.
Governments, however, don't always see it that way. To drive home its point the Polish government recently took away the security agents guarding Balcerowicz. Economists were appalled. But he refuses to knuckle under.
"He's quite a courageous man and he's not afraid," one Polish central bank source said.
Central bankers may get their own chauffeurs. But out of the 100 or so attending the meeting here, those asked said they did the job for personal satisfaction and public service.
In many cases, it is not for the salary. "Let's put it this way. It is quite a sacrifice," said Rafael Buenaventura, the governor of the Central Bank of the Philippines, who missed some aspects of his former job as a commercial banker.
"In the private sector, you have your privacy, you earn a lot more," he said. It is hard to avoid public scrutiny.
Central bankers are expected to be paragons of economic virtue.
Don Brash, cost-conscious former governor of the Bank of New Zealand who resigned in April to pursue politics, was known in the press back home as the central banker who washed his own socks on trips.
The job requires stamina, and a long attention span for subjects not normally thought of as riveting.
On Sunday morning central bankers spent a beautiful sunny day indoors discussing academic subjects like the chance for global recovery and "financial resilience".
The vast majority of central bankers are men. The European Central Bank has one woman among its 18 policy-makers.
The job attracts those who like power, but it can also destroy the unwary.
"It is like a rich fatty meal that you want, but it still can harm you," said one Middle Eastern central bank governor, who added bank supervision was the toughest job of all in a country where family and business ties are extremely close.