Greenspan: We Did 'the Best We Could'

Alan Greenspan is taking more heat on Capitol Hill today as a three-day series of hearings begins on the economic meltdown. “What we tried to do was the best we could with the data that we had,” the former Fed chief told the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. “Did we make mistakes? Of course we made mistakes." But he defended the central bank's efforts and said it was "quite active in pursuing consumer protections for mortgage borrowers," reports Bloomberg.

Greenspan warned that more trouble lies ahead unless regulators require big banks to hold more capital and predicted that the last few years would be viewed "as the most virulent global financial crisis ever," notes the Wall Street Journal. At one point, Greenspan said it wasn't subprime mortgages themselves that were the problem, but the "rise in global demand for securitized subprime mortgage interests." Marketwatch says he's splitting hairs.
(More Alan Greenspan stories.)