Wednesday, September 19, 2007
As economy fails, Greenspan criticizes Bush and Republicans in new book
by Timothy Henry, [X]press Online
Alan Greenspan’s words used to put every stock broker and financial adviser worldwide on the edge of their seats. Greenspan’s sentences were dissected for every possible meaning or clue as to what incremental change the chairman of the Federal Reserve might make to interest rates. Aside from the president or the chief justice of the Supreme Court, no one person in Washington carried more influence.
And now the man with the most powerful words in the world has released his memoirs, and become yet another critic of the Bush administration. Greenspan’s memoirs a day before the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates Tuesday, from 5.25 percent to 4.75 percent, the first lowering of rates since 2003. Lowering interest rates are generally cautionary tactic to combat inflation by discouraging saving and increasing spending.
The stock market historically responds strongly to interest rate cuts, and Wall Street saw a strong day of trading Tuesday, as did Asian and European markets. The same trends crossed over into today.
Among his criticisms of the president, Greenspan said “. . . Everyone knows the Iraq war is largely about Oil.” Keep in mind that Greenspan is no Michael Moore or George Clooney. It is widely printed that Greenspan is a self-described Libertarian Republican, and a devotee of Capitalist author Ayn Rand.
“The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World,” was released today by Penguin Books (and co-written by Peter Petre who co-wrote Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf’s autobiography). Greenspan is rumored to have been paid somewhere around $8 million, second only to Bill Clinton’s $12 million for his memoirs, according to the Washington Post.
“ ‘The Age of Turbulence’ is three books in one,” according to Bradford DeLong, a professor of economics at University of California, Berkeley who reviewed Greenspan’s auto biography
for the Los Angeles Times. “The first [book] tells us who Greenspan is,” says DeLong, who described Greenspan as a talented jazz-clarinetist and math geek who read economics books between gigs.
“The second book,” says DeLong, “gives Greenspan’s view of the world . . . He is trying to convey complicated and subtle technocratic ideas about the global economy . . . in a way that is comprehensible to general readers whose purchases drive bestseller lists.”
The third book, according to DeLong, contains Greenspan’s criticism of the Bush administration. Greenspan writes of the Republicans: “They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose in the 2006 election, when they lost control of the House and Senate.” This seems to be Greenspan’s token anti-Bush quote, and has already echoed across the internet.
Alan Greenspan was chairman of the Federal Reserve for 18 years, serving six presidents and both parties over the course of his career.
The chairman of the Fed wields enormous monetary power. When the economy runs smoothly, Greenspan got the credit. And when the economy got ugly, the criticism was shoveled to Greenspan’s feet. Censures of Greenspanian policy include the recession of 2001, and the recent housing market bubble burst.
Not many people can name influential economists – anyone know who Milton Friedman is? How about John Maynard Keynes? These are famous economists, insofar as economist can achieve fame. Most people know the name of Alan Greenspan, even if they weren’t fully aware of the nuances of the power he wielded.
Greenspan’s words could literally change the economy. Those words drew a fairly swift reaction from President Bush. During an interview with Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier, Bush plainly said, “I would respectfully disagree with the characterizations by chairman Greenspan.”
Alan Greenspan’s words used to put every stock broker and financial adviser worldwide on the edge of their seats. Greenspan’s sentences were dissected for every possible meaning or clue as to what incremental change the chairman of the Federal Reserve might make to interest rates. Aside from the president or the chief justice of the Supreme Court, no one person in Washington carried more influence.
And now the man with the most powerful words in the world has released his memoirs, and become yet another critic of the Bush administration. Greenspan’s memoirs a day before the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates Tuesday, from 5.25 percent to 4.75 percent, the first lowering of rates since 2003. Lowering interest rates are generally cautionary tactic to combat inflation by discouraging saving and increasing spending.
The stock market historically responds strongly to interest rate cuts, and Wall Street saw a strong day of trading Tuesday, as did Asian and European markets. The same trends crossed over into today.
Among his criticisms of the president, Greenspan said “. . . Everyone knows the Iraq war is largely about Oil.” Keep in mind that Greenspan is no Michael Moore or George Clooney. It is widely printed that Greenspan is a self-described Libertarian Republican, and a devotee of Capitalist author Ayn Rand.
“The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World,” was released today by Penguin Books (and co-written by Peter Petre who co-wrote Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf’s autobiography). Greenspan is rumored to have been paid somewhere around $8 million, second only to Bill Clinton’s $12 million for his memoirs, according to the Washington Post.
“ ‘The Age of Turbulence’ is three books in one,” according to Bradford DeLong, a professor of economics at University of California, Berkeley who reviewed Greenspan’s auto biography
for the Los Angeles Times. “The first [book] tells us who Greenspan is,” says DeLong, who described Greenspan as a talented jazz-clarinetist and math geek who read economics books between gigs.
“The second book,” says DeLong, “gives Greenspan’s view of the world . . . He is trying to convey complicated and subtle technocratic ideas about the global economy . . . in a way that is comprehensible to general readers whose purchases drive bestseller lists.”
The third book, according to DeLong, contains Greenspan’s criticism of the Bush administration. Greenspan writes of the Republicans: “They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose in the 2006 election, when they lost control of the House and Senate.” This seems to be Greenspan’s token anti-Bush quote, and has already echoed across the internet.
Alan Greenspan was chairman of the Federal Reserve for 18 years, serving six presidents and both parties over the course of his career.
The chairman of the Fed wields enormous monetary power. When the economy runs smoothly, Greenspan got the credit. And when the economy got ugly, the criticism was shoveled to Greenspan’s feet. Censures of Greenspanian policy include the recession of 2001, and the recent housing market bubble burst.
Not many people can name influential economists – anyone know who Milton Friedman is? How about John Maynard Keynes? These are famous economists, insofar as economist can achieve fame. Most people know the name of Alan Greenspan, even if they weren’t fully aware of the nuances of the power he wielded.
Greenspan’s words could literally change the economy. Those words drew a fairly swift reaction from President Bush. During an interview with Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier, Bush plainly said, “I would respectfully disagree with the characterizations by chairman Greenspan.”
# posted by [X]press Staff @ 2:22 PM 