Saturday, December 01, 2007

Concerning Alan Greenspan

Nayeri: Joseph Stiglitz went on the record on Nov. 16 as saying that Greenspan had "made a mess" and that the U.S. now faced a recession. Do you agree?

Artus: Yes. [...] He derived all his glory from his reaction to the savings-and-loans crisis, to the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management LP, and to Sept. 11, 2001. But LTCM and the savings-and-loans crisis were his doing. He absolutely failed to see where the malfunctions in the U.S. economy were.

[...]

Nayeri: How would you sum up his track record, then?

Artus: He was a very bad Federal Reserve chairman. He created four major crises: savings and loans, LTCM, new-technology shares, and subprime mortgages.

Nayeri: But surely you will acknowledge that Greenspan saved the planet at crucial turning points?

Artus: Yes, but after the fact. He's congratulated for his role as fireman, but he's the one who started the fire.

  Bloomberg

Mission accomplished.


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