Greenspan is either suffering from senility, or is a dolt.......

He's been made the goat for the last two weeks. Just sounds like he's 'fessing up.

He is after all an economist, and the phrase "all other things being equal," is often in their writings. Of course, all other things are never equal.

-- Rita
 
He doesn't care if he talks the market down. He's probably rather comfortable in retirement from his speaking engagements and his pension. Must be nice.
 
ziggy29 said:
He doesn't care if he talks the market down. He's probably rather comfortable in retirement from his speaking engagements and his pension. Must be nice.
Click to expand...

The more he talks, the dumber he sounds. His legacy is being tarnished more and more each day.........;)
 
FinanceDude said:
The more he talks, the dumber he sounds. His legacy is being tarnished more and more each day.........;)
Click to expand...
And it's interesting how the market's opinion has changed. Ten or fifteen years ago they loved him. Now they see what Easy Al and his bubblicious monetary policy has done.

He's just like Bernanke, Bush and Paulson now -- when he speaks, markets tank. There is no clearer vote of no confidence in the financial markets than that.
 
ziggy29 said:
And it's interesting how the market's opinion has changed. Ten or fifteen years ago they loved him. Now they see what Easy Al and his bubblicious monetary policy has done.

He's just like Bernanke, Bush and Paulson now -- when he speaks, markets tank. There is no clearer vote of no confidence in the financial markets than that.
Click to expand...

Maybe Obama will rally the markets as Prez.........:D:D
 
ziggy29 said:
He's just like Bernanke, Bush and Paulson now -- when he speaks, markets tank. There is no clearer vote of no confidence in the financial markets than that.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. . . it seems to me he was able to get the markets to tank every time he testified before Congress. He held all the strings and the market knew it. If he was upbeat in his testimony, stocks were up. If he expressed concern ('irrational exhuberance'), stocks tanked.

-- Rita
 
I think this is a big piece of the problem:

"Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholder's equity (myself especially) are in a state of shocked disbelief," said Greenspan, who stepped down from the Fed in 2006.
Click to expand...

The anti-regulation group believed that the invisible hand would work efficiently in this situation. They certainly understood the concepts of "principal-agency problem" and "negative externalities", but they bet that these would be small issues.
 
FinanceDude said:
And married to Andrea Mitchell, so I give him kudos for being an overachiever.........:D
Click to expand...
Maybe that's a symptom of cerebral blood flow suffering from the hydraulic demands of other parts of his body. We should all enjoy our ERs this much, right?
 
Yuck...Andrea Mitchell and Alan Greenspan deserve each other!
 
Independent said:
I think this is a big piece of the problem:
The anti-regulation group believed that the invisible hand would work efficiently in this situation. They certainly understood the concepts of "principal-agency problem" and "negative externalities", but they bet that these would be small issues.
Click to expand...

Yeah, pretty amazing huh?
Today, the former chairman asked: ``What went wrong with global economic policies that had worked so effectively for nearly four decades?'' During his term at the Fed's helm, Greenspan repeatedly warned lawmakers against inhibiting markets, such as by tightening oversight of certain types of derivatives.

Greenspan, reiterated his ``shocked disbelief'' that financial companies failed to execute sufficient ``surveillance'' on their trading counterparties to prevent surging losses. The ``breakdown'' was clearest in the market where securities firms packaged home mortgages into debt sold on to other investors, he said. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aOOSejLq_BSM&refer=home
Click to expand...

What was completely forgotten about the lessons of unfettered capitalism is that ultimately greed trumps prudence. Corporate officers and higher-ups sometimes start thinking short-term and raking in the fees/bonuses while totally blowing off the long-term consequences, because they don't intend to stick around to face the music! Under these circumstances, who cares about shareholders, customers, or anybody else?

That is why some level of financial company regulation is required - to stop short-term greedy risk-taking from putting the entire financial system in jeopardy. If a company is big enough to shock the financial system and badly hurt other companies and/or the economy, then there must be some level of controls to ensure some level of prudence.

Audrey
 
Like virtually any other bureaucrat or politician one sees on TV, Greenspan is lying.
 
audreyh1 said:
Yeah, pretty amazing huh?


What was completely forgotten about the lessons of unfettered capitalism is that ultimately greed trumps prudence. Corporate officers and higher-ups sometimes start thinking short-term and raking in the fees/bonuses while totally blowing off the long-term consequences, because they don't intend to stick around to face the music! Under these circumstances, who cares about shareholders, customers, or anybody else?

That is why some level of financial company regulation is required - to stop short-term greedy risk-taking from putting the entire financial system in jeopardy. If a company is big enough to shock the financial system and badly hurt other companies and/or the economy, then there must be some level of controls to ensure some level of prudence.

Audrey
Click to expand...
Very well said. Idealism of any type, not tempered by healthy skepticism and an understanding of basic human nature, will usually lead to bad results. That applies to both ends of the ideological spectrum.
 
There's nothing wrong with the free market approach. The problems arose because when the government allowed banks to give credit to whoever they want to they also guaranteed a return on that money because Freddie and Fanny bought up half of the mortgages in the united states. It basically removed any negative results from affecting the primary lender if the homeowner decided not to pay; because by that time they have already sold off the loan to F&F.

Freemarket Capitalism requires two things, freedom from restrictions and responsibility for actions. The very idea of corporate personhood is very anti-free market because no person is responsible for the mistakes a company makes, only the company name is responsible. All the CEOs and Board of Directors just take their millions of dollars and go find another job.
 
Notmuchlonger said:
Gosh I forgot who selected Greenspan. Anyone jog my memory for me?:confused:
Click to expand...

I assumed you were joking but for those who forgot it was Reagan. To be fair, everyone who followed Reagan was afraid to get rid of Greenspan. We all walked into this mess like lemmings.
 
It is amazing -- just a few short years ago he was so highly respected and trusted. Almost financial god status.

We're fickle.

Coach
 
Coach said:
It is amazing -- just a few short years ago he was so highly respected and trusted. Almost financial god status.

We're fickle.

Coach
Click to expand...
Fickle implies that we flit about without much basis. It took a lot to turn us around on Greenspan. I think we are trusting, not fickle. But when the trust is abused we get PO'd - witness our reactions to Cheney's intelligence cherry picking about WMDs and Greenspan's "shock" about financial institutions.
 
barbarus said:
Like virtually any other bureaucrat or politician one sees on TV, Greenspan is lying.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I think he is telling the truth.
When he was lecturing on the virtues of less regulation, he really believed what he was saying.
When he says that he is "shocked" that he was wrong, he is also telling the truth.

The lesson is that even honest ideologues, who can't see the limits on their ideologies, are going to be wrong.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Reconciling micro observations with macro trends? (is the economy really doing well?)
2
Replies
26
Views
2K
Koolau
Koolau
M
Well Pump Replacement
2
Replies
38
Views
1K
Northforker
N
Tranquility Base
Front Door Visit From New Edward Jones Representative
2
Replies
41
Views
5K
tryan
tryan
C
Do any of you cut it really close in easy retirement?
2 3 4
Replies
87
Views
8K
Koolau
Koolau
Gumby
Tax efficient asset allocation
Replies
19
Views
2K
OldShooter
OldShooter

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom