Greenspan Legacy

(See here) a San Francisco Chronicle article that speaks about the Greenspan legacy.

Let me share my own opinion of Alan Greenspan. Greenspan was a wise man who could not resist bending to the forces of politics.

While Greenspan possessed great wisdom in economics, he allowed political considerations to color his pronouncements as his Fed Chairmanship waned.

Instead of exposing the Dubyah economic policies for what they were, he muted himself for political reasons. "Borrow and spend" federal budget policies pressed hard on the accelerator as our economy heads over the cliff. But not according to Greenspan. According to Greenspan these policies were only reason for, at the most, concern and we need not panic.

Somewhere along the line Alan Greenspan sold out on us and started coloring his pronouncements with political opportunism instead of sound economics.

Under Greenspan, American economic policies became unsound. I would not blame Alan if he sounded the clarion to warn us. But that is not what happened. Instead he voiced opinions that reassured us that we should not worry.

Truth is that America is headed for an economic train wreck. Instead of telling American citizens that we need to wake up and face the threats head on, Alan voiced opinions that enabled politicians to urge us on as we pressed down on the accelerator.

Alan Greenspan possessed great political capital as an expert that could have assisted us in changing course. Did he spend this capital in sounding a warning? No he did not. The man is not a fool. He is educated and wise. His avoidance of responsibility is unforgivable.

Alan Greenspan too often took to the microphone with the song "Don't worry, be happy" while America continued to rush towards an economic meltdown.

This is the legacy of Alan Greenspan. He is the man who could have changed things but who did not bother to do it. Shame on him.