Greenspan will be remembered as a goat, not a guru,

[donsu]

subjec line above was in quo es.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/HA31Dj01.html

- a ver long ar icle-

The Greenspan legacy

-snip-

The Federal Reserve is not a capitalistic entity compatible with free markets. Instead it functions just like the miserably failed old-school command-and-control communism model. The core philosophy of the Fed and its Federal Open Market Committee that controls short-term interest rates is that mere mortals meeting in secret like a conspiracy cabal are better suited at setting the price of money than the free markets.

-snip-

So before we delve into Greenspan's record on monetary inflation and interest rates, realize he is as far away from being a free-market capitalist as one can possibly be. He is a communist-style elitist who believes that the price of money and even money supplies should be centrally planned as if by the Communist Politburo. This is no less ridiculous than the idea of the Fed mandating the price of every dinner, every pair of shoes, or every book sold in America. History has proved time and time again what an asinine idea central planning truly is.

-snip-

In light of his surprisingly poor monetary record, Greenspan's legacy will be remembered as one of the confiscators of Americans' wealth whom he once despised. His senseless inflation contributed to the moral decay of the US, gutting the purchasing power of retirees' savings and ensuring that most American families would have to have two wage earners in order to keep a semblance of middle-class living.

-snip-

Greenspan's legacy is one of a failed market manipulator and price fixer, a dangerous enemy of free-market capitalism in sheep's clothing. In five or 10 years from now once the full spectrum of the consequences of his highly inflationary and moral-hazard-ridden policies become apparent, I suspect Greenspan will be remembered as a goat, not a guru, a blight on the United States and its economy.
-----------------------------


over and done

we'er done for

[Boojatta]

1. re "believes that ... should be ..."

"He is a communist-style elitist who believes that the price of money and even money supplies should be centrally planned as if by the Communist Politburo."
Assuming that is true, why does it matter?

Would it have been better to have appointed a man or woman who would have opposed the existence of the job that he or she was appointed to perform?

[enigma000]

2. Greenspan should have tightened the money supply in the 90s?

That would have slowed the economy, and it never would have created so many jobs. As well, without lowering interest rates in 2001-02, the economy would never have recovered from the recession.

BTW: what is the inflation rate in the US? I don't believe it is that high......

[ladjf]

3. Too bad he left his job as a bar pianist.

[applegrove]

4. Making the US more vulnerable to the Bourse. That is what he did.

[KalicoKitty]

5. GreenspaM should have been put out to pasture years ago!

[KyuzoGator]

6. Paul Volcker (Carter appointee) was the one who saved the US economy.

Greenspan is just a Rand Institute lackey.

[Boojatta]

8. "Greenspan is just a Rand Institute lackey."

I just looked at the website of the Ayn Rand Institute. I found only one reference to Greenspan that was not a criticism. They quote with approval the following words that he wrote: antitrust "is a world in which the law is so vague that business-men have no way of knowing whether specific actions will be declared illegal until they hear the judge's verdict--after the fact."

Do you think that is a strong basis for your claim that Greenspan is their lackey?

I also found the following:

Paying More Blood Money to the IMF
Sunday, March 8, 1998
By: Richard M. Salsman
IMF is a destructive, crisis-generating global welfare agency that should be abolished.
Asia, Russia and Brazil too, can recover--but only when they reign in government by (...) kicking out the IMF. That's not easy, when Alan Greenspan and Robert Rubin shill for IMF funding in Congress, falsely implying that refusal to fund makes Congress culpable for the crises.

How the Greenspan Stole Christmas
Monday, December 25, 2000
By: Robert Tracinski
Recession fears are the result of a perverse but openly declared war on economic growth by Alan Greenspan.

The Withering Blix-Krieg
Wednesday, March 5, 2003
By: Robert Tracinski
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan once admitted that he intentionally speaks in vague economic gibberish, because if he says anything definite, he knows his words will move markets.

Admittedly, I didn't bother to look at any of their pdf documents that mention Greenspan.

Perhaps you can quote Greenspan to support your claim that he is "just a Rand Institute lackey"? Does Greenspan have a website with statements on it about the Rand Institute?

[terryg11]

7. written by a true Bush I and II supporter

You can argue all day and night as to how well his policies worked, yet during the Clinton years (which were some of the most prosperous in the last fifty years) he worked very welll with Clinton's ideas and policies. How much credit do they deserve for the 90s? Good question but if he was as bad as author says he is, then Clinton's terms wouldn't have been marked by such prosperity

[RobertSeattle]

9. You did a heckuva job Greenspan

I know he's not responsible for the debt, but he sure didn't stop it:

Federal Debt when he began as chairman
Feb 1, 1992: $3,900,000,000,000.00 (Approx)

Now:
Jan 31, 2006: $8,186,710,462,276.89