Alan Greenspan

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Greenspan Warns of the Bubble That May Be Bursting Next

And when that bond bubble bursts, it will be fast and severe, he says

(Newser) - More than 20 years ago, Alan Greenspan uttered two words he'd become famous for: "irrational exuberance," which he used to warn about asset prices in the general investment market and how predicting the bursting of such bubbles was a challenging game. Now the former Federal Reserve chair...

Bush-Era Policies Account for Most of US Debt: Washington Post


 Who's to Blame 
 for America's 
 Massive Debt? 
'post' analysis
Oct 30, 2011 2:27 PM CDT

Who's to Blame for America's Massive Debt?

Bush policies account for $7T: Washington Post

(Newser) - The United States started 2001 with a cozy nest egg of more than $2 trillion, and now the country owes about $10 trillion—but who's to blame? Put simply, Obama-era policies account for $1.7 trillion of the debt, and Bush policies for over $7 trillion, the Washington Post...

Greenspan: Forget Stimulus, Let Markets Take Over

Government spending is less effective than we hoped

(Newser) - Alan Greenspan says stimulus spending isn't perking up the economy as much as hoped—and that at this point, it's better to let businesses and the markets handle the recovery, the Wall Street Journal reports. “We’d probably be better off doing less than more” because “you’d...

Shut Up, Alan Greenspan
 Shut Up, Alan Greenspan 
OPINION
Aug 3, 2010 1:37 PM CDT

Shut Up, Alan Greenspan

Ex-Fed chairman can't get anything right

(Newser) - Former fed chairman Alan Greenspan warned this weekend that the US is headed for a double-dip recession, which might be frightening news, if we didn’t have a conflicting opinion—from former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan! Just 4 months ago, Greenspan said odds of a double-dip recession had fallen drastically....

Motto for Our Era: Don't Blame Me
Motto for Our Era:
Don't Blame Me
Frank Rich
Apr 11, 2010 11:32 AM CDT

Motto for Our Era: Don't Blame Me

Responsibility is a 'forgotten value,' says Frank Rich

(Newser) - Watching Alan Greenspan's don't-blame-me testimony on Capitol Hill leads Frank Rich to pronounce that "we live in a culture where accountability and responsibility are forgotten values." It's always somebody else's fault. This goes beyond the financial sector, with hollow apologies and obfuscations cropping up everywhere from the Vatican...

Greenspan: We Did 'the Best We Could'

Former Fed chief takes heat on Capitol Hill

(Newser) - 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. “...

Social Security to Take In Less Than It Pays Out in 2010

Payouts exceeding revenue 6 years ahead of predictions

(Newser) - The recession has battered Social Security, too: The program will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes this year, says the Congressional Budget Office. The system hadn't been expected to reach its "tipping point" until 2016. The change will have no effect on benefits, but...

Greenspan Portraits Sink in Value

When the stock market was hot, so were these paintings

(Newser) - Here's a sign of the times: Whimsical portraits of Alan Greenspan—from his days as a rock star central banker—that were once hot commodities have sunk in value. Not too long ago, these oil paintings and prints by Erin Crowe fetched up to $10,000. Now, not so much....

Financial Reform: How to Prevent Another Greenspan
Financial Reform: How to Prevent Another Greenspan
Thomas Frank
Nov 11, 2009 9:44 AM CST

Financial Reform: How to Prevent Another Greenspan

Reform plans may hand regulation over to fervent deregulators

(Newser) - There's a lot riding on reform of the financial industry, but the administration's plans to overhaul financial regulation carries the seeds of its own destruction, writes Thomas Frank. Taking oversight away from the present confusing array of agencies and making the Federal Reserve One Big Regulator means that when the...

Soros to Spend $50M to Reinvent Economics

Fund manager's think tank charged with reinventing the field

(Newser) - George Soros has decided to spend $50 million to launch a new think tank charged with reinventing the field of economics, which the Hungarian-American billionaire calls "a dogma whose time has passed." The Institute of New Economic Thinking, whose board members include luminaries such as Joseph Stiglitz and...

America's Most Powerful Octogenarians

Slate ranks the country's top old people

(Newser) - Retirement? Bah! Slate’s annual 80 for 80 list ranks America’s mightiest octogenarians, giving extra credit for post-80 achievements, and “being really, really old.” The top:
  1. Thomas Monson (82): As the head of the Mormon church, 13 million people think he’s a prophet “in the
...

Greenspan: 'Crisis Will Happen Again'
Greenspan: 'Crisis Will Happen Again'
INTERVIEW
Sep 9, 2009 5:26 AM CDT

Greenspan: 'Crisis Will Happen Again'

Former Fed chairman denies responsibility, blames human nature

(Newser) - Another financial crisis is inevitable "unless somebody can find a way to change human nature," says Alan Greenspan in an interview with the BBC. The former Fed chairman—who has faced stinging criticism for his own role in precipitating the 2008-09 global recession—denied any responsibility for the...

Men's Skivvy Sales Spell More Trouble

Stimulus package or not, underwear metric indicates downturn

(Newser) - More bad news, this time from the men’s underwear department. One of former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan’s favorite metrics for predicting changes in consumer spending was the sales of men’s skivvies, the Huffington Post reports. It seems that sales are projected to decline 2.3% this year,...

Stop Stalling and Nationalize Bailout Banks: Krugman

The sooner we take over zombie banks, the better, says Krugman

(Newser) - The case for temporarily nationalizing some of America's biggest banks is so persuasive that even Alan Greenspan, the baron of laissez-faire capitalism, thinks it's a good idea. Yet the Obama administration keeps proposing half-measures and workarounds. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says the government should get it over with:...

Nationalize Some Banks: Greenspan
Nationalize Some Banks:
Greenspan
Feb 18, 2009 8:06 AM CST

Nationalize Some Banks: Greenspan

Ex-Fed head abandons free-market purism, wants temporary move

(Newser) - Alan Greenspan, once famed for his light touch, now says the US may have to temporarily nationalize some banks. The former Fed chairman said in an interview with the Financial Times that some institutions need government ownership to restore liquidity and help shore up the larger financial system. "In...

Andrea Mitchell, Gay Icon
 Andrea Mitchell, 
 Gay Icon 
OPINION
Jan 28, 2009 1:30 PM CST

Andrea Mitchell, Gay Icon

Community seems fascinated with correspondent, if somewhat secretly

(Newser) - Cher, Barbra Streisand, Madonna … and NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell? Yes, John Koblin and Zachary Woolfe write in the New York Observer, Mrs. Alan Greenspan is an icon to gay men, if not as celebrated. “She’s the Golden Girls rolled into one,” one fan says: “The...

25 People Responsible for the Crisis
25 People Responsible
for the Crisis
OPINION
Jan 26, 2009 3:25 PM CST

25 People Responsible for the Crisis

Greenspan, King, and Clinton all played a role, the Guardian writes

(Newser) - The current recession is a wholly man-made phenomenon, the Guardian reminds us, and they’ve got the names of those responsible. Here are four from their list of 25:
  • Alan Greenspan: Fed chair for 19 years, Greenspan kept interest rates low as the housing bubble developed, backed subprime lending and
...

Battle Over Regulation Looms in '09
Battle Over Regulation Looms in '09
ANALYSIS
Dec 25, 2008 9:24 AM CST

Battle Over Regulation Looms in '09

Some worry Obama won't do enough to rein in derivatives market

(Newser) - After the economic meltdown of 2008, the coming year will see a battle over one of the most politically contentious issues in finance: the regulation of derivatives markets. Some who opposed government oversight before now acknowledge the need for tighter controls. But they face an uphill battle, reports Newsweek, against...

Whom to Thank for This Mess
 Whom to Thank for This Mess 
opinion
Dec 9, 2008 2:59 PM CST

Whom to Thank for This Mess

Bad decisions starting in the '80s triggered the credit crisis

(Newser) - This financial crisis brewed over decades of bad decisions, and, in Vanity Fair, economist Joseph Stiglitz makes sure credit is given where due:
  • In 1987 President Reagan appointed anti-regulation Alan Greenspan to a regulatory post.
  • Greenspan offered the markets a "flood of liquidity" that boosted inflation and caused
...

The Economic Crisis Taints Us All: Galbraith

Economist calls the meltdown a 'blot' on the profession

(Newser) - The economic bust has taken a hammer to the profession of economics, Reagan's monetary policy, and the careers of President Bush, Alan Greenspan, and Henry Paulson, James Galbraith tells the New York Times. In an interview with Deborah Solomon, the economist chides his colleagues for failing to call the meltdown,...

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