I wish I had a better memory. Several months ago, maybe a year or more ago, a guest on one of the cable news financial shows went on about how there would be a near collapse of our economy, recession, maybe depression, and it will trace back to the career of Alan Greenspan, proving him one of the worst influences on our economy. Dang, I wish I new the specifics. Anyway, Greenspan is being grilled before congress, and it looks like he's got plenty of blame on his shoulders.
The house of cards that Clinton/Greenspan built was why I got out of stocks. There was no way things could continue. Of course there was no crystal ball, just common sense. The "financial experts" LOVED Greenspan. After all, he was The Maestro!!!!
He basically said, he grossly overestimated the free markets ability to control themselves. It has given wings to the socialism we are about to enter since theDems predicted this would happen. They've said trickle down was nothing but a way for the rich to shaft the people. The people think they have the answers since they predicted the outcome.
It didn't have to be this way.Greenspan's can't understand why the free market has acted so irresponsibly. It had it all. Basically what he's saying and that his error was not stopping them through regulation which was totally against his views.
nodog, I read your post several times trying to make sense of it. The best I can tell, you have it all bass ackwards. Understand that everything Maestro is saying now is an attempt to cover his own mistakes.
Economic downturns are cyclic, they usually happen in 5,7, or 10 year intervals. Only this time rampant greed and no regulation is making it much worse. Greenspan has acknowledged that wall street was unable/unaccepting to regulating itself(what a shocker).
I also believe government is unwilling to accept enough blame(again, what a shocker) in actually helping corporations outsource good paying jobs overseas. As much as many won't admit it, though there are still good paying jobs in America, many more have been lost.
Not sure if it fits here, but I agree with Bill O'Reilly about something. I used to believe that socialism and capitalism were opposite ends of a spectrum. But the ends of the spectrum are socialism and anarchy. Capitalism is in the middle.
Total lack of regulation and enforcement is anarchy, in the economy as in government. Capitalism needs some regulation, just as a free society needs some laws.
The past few years have been shadowed by a trend toward anarchy. The reaction should be a movement back toward responsibly regulated capitalism, but not a slingshot into socialism.
As far as Greenspan, his leadership in the credit area made all of this possible -- he created the environment. I'm not sure of his role in regulation and oversight (not that knowledgeable of the workings of the federal government.)
Greenspan
