Free Republic

William White predicted the approaching financial crisis years before 2007's subprime meltdown. But central bankers preferred to listen to his great rival Alan Greenspan instead, with devastating consequences for the global economy. William White had a pretty clear idea of what he wanted to do with his life after shedding his pinstriped suit and entering retirement. White, a Canadian, worked for various central banks for 39 years, most recently serving as chief economist for the central bank for all central bankers, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. Then, after 15 years in the world's most secretive...

Atlas Shrieked by: Mytheos Holt, June 16, 2009 In recent weeks, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has found himself increasingly under public assault, both for his actions leading up to the current financial crisis, and for his attempts to defend these actions. In the April issue of the “Free Market” newsletter produced by the Ludwig von Mises Institute, economist Robert P. Murphy devotes an article to exploring what he sees as the failures of central banking systems generally, and Greenspan, specifically. Murphy’s article, entitled “Greenspan’s Bogus Defense,” argues that Greenspan’s rate-setting policies destabilized the relation between federal interest rates...

Former U.S. Representative and 2008 Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney has joined those seeking to take advantage of the world economic crisis to promote anti-Semitism. McKinney has published a column promoting the conspiracy theories of the far-right anti-Semite Matthias Chang. McKinney's column, which accuses George Soros and Alan Greenspan of participating in a plot to deliberately destabilize the world economy in order to install a "one-world government", uses Chang's term for this purported conspiracy: "the Shadow Money-Lenders" (not coincidentally, the title of Chang's most recent book). Typical of such conspiracy theories, Chang and McKinney connect this to an ancient...

Before I begin my analysis, I want to put the reader into the shoes of Alan Greenspan at the time in question. We have heard ad nauseum that this current economic crisis is the worst since the Great Depression. We have heard it so often that we forget just how dire things were at the beginning of the mlllenia. We entered the millenia with the bubble bursting on the internet revolution. Throughout the nineties, it looked as though our economy would be revolutionized all through the internet, and then all of that was put to an end when the bubble...

BY KRISHNA GUHA & EDWARD LUCE Washington. The US government may have to nationalise some banks on a temporary basis to fix the financial system and restore the flow of credit, Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman has told the Financial Times. In an interview with the FT Mr Greenspan, who for decades was regarded as the high priest of laisser-faire capitalism, said nationalisation could be the least bad option left for policymakers. ”It may be necessary to temporarily nationalise some banks in order to facilitate a swift and orderly restructuring,” he said. “I understand that once in a...

The worst economic turmoil since the Great Depression is not a natural phenomenon but a man-made disaster in which we all played a part.In the second part of a week-long series looking behind the slump,Guardian City editor Julia Finch picks out the individuals who have led us into the current crisis Alan Greenspan, chairman of US Federal Reserve 1987- 2006Only a couple of years ago the long-serving chairman of the Fed, a committed free marketeer who had steered the US economy through crises ranging from the 1987 stockmarket collapse through to the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, was lauded with...

Who wrote the following?: "Societies in which the few are allowed to fatten themselves without limit on the labor of many are not just." A. Friedrich Engels B. William Ayers C. Michelle Obama D. Timothy Rutten Any of the answers would make sense, but the headline kind of gave it away. It was Timothy Rutten of the LA Times who penned that immortal line in his column of today. In doing so, Rutten echoes other in the MSM, as here and here, who in the wake of the financial markets' travails indulge in a certain anti-capitalist chic. Let's have some...

It is now consensus that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are at the heart of the systemic meltdown we are seeing in the mortgage market. They are costing taxpayers billions through their own bailouts and through the role they played in fueling an artificial mortgage boom.But eight years ago, when I testified before Congress that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's "special privileges create a serious hazard to the market, to taxpayers (and) to the economy," my criticism of these sacred financial entities was met with ridicule. At the hearing on June 21, 2000, before the House Financial Services Committee, I...

As financial storm signals appeared the past 18 months, some Bush officials urged drastic reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But, according to internal government sources, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson objected because it would look "too political." The Republican administration kept its hands off the government-backed mortgage companies that are closely connected to the Democratic establishment. Paulson is a Republican, but as head of the Goldman Sachs investment bank he had close ties with Democratic-dominated Fannie Mae.

“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.� -Thomas Jefferson The Founding Fathers put Congress in control of the the U.S. monetary system. In 1913 Congress relinquished this awesome power and gave it to a private cartel with the passage of the Federal Reserve Act. For almost 100 years, Federal Reserve policy has swindled Americans...

If there was ever an obvious conflict of interest in economic reporting, this may very well qualify. NBC chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell evaluated the housing crisis solution proposals of both Democratic presidential hopefuls Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) on the March 25 "NBC Nightly News." "Clinton was the first of the two to sound alarms about the subprime mess with a plan a year ago," Mitchell said. "Obama followed a week later with a call for a summit. Since then both have gotten more specific."

The current financial crisis in the US is likely to be judged in retrospect as the most wrenching since the end of the second world war. It will end eventually when home prices stabilise and with them the value of equity in homes supporting troubled mortgage securities. Home price stabilisation will restore much-needed clarity to the marketplace because losses will be realised rather than prospective. The major source of contagion will be removed. Financial institutions will then recapitalise or go out of business. Trust in the solvency of remaining counterparties will be gradually restored and issuance of loans and securities...

...Asked whether the economy will tip into a recession -- something that has not happened since 2001 -- Greenspan said, "It's too soon to say, but the odds are clearly rising." He said he felt this way because of the slowing pace of growth. "We are getting close to stall speed," he said. "We are far more vulnerable at levels where growth is so slow than we would be otherwise," he added. "Indeed, it's like someone who has an immune system that's not working very well is subject to all sorts of diseases and the economy at this lever of...

It was only last summer when stock markets plunged nearly 10 per cent, shocked by a sudden credit crunch emanating from the implosion of the American housing bubble. It seemed that the era of easy credit and ever-rising stocks had ended. Now, all this appears to be just an unpleasant memory. The Dow Jones industrial average has more than erased its earlier losses, closing well above a previous record set in July. Other major indexes are well on the way to recovery. With the Fed in easing mode, what could go wrong? Even dour old Alan Greenspan seemed on the...

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is warning of a sea change coming to the global economy. Greenspan says the glory days of low-cost imports from China are coming to an end, sending a wave of inflation to the U.S., reports Bloomberg. After a speech in London yesterday, Greenspan answered an audience member's question about whether China's rapid economic growth will translate into rising prices. Greenspan cited an index of import prices from China to the U.S. that revealed prices are already beginning to trend higher (see chart). The index "finally turned higher in the spring," said Greenspan. "It's saying...

In his new book, "The Age of Turbulence," my longtime friend Alan Greenspan argues that President Bush's economic and budget policies have been fiscally irresponsible. I've known and admired Alan for years, and I believe he was a great chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. But I think his assessment is off the mark. Alan tells of his first meeting with then President-elect Bush on Dec. 18, 2000, at the Madison Hotel in Washington. I recall this breakfast meeting very well, especially Alan's comments on the state of the economy. The Fed chairman told the president-elect and our team that...

'FED' UP WITH AL ANALYSTS DECRY 'I'M NOT TO BLAME' SPIN By PAUL THARP 18, 2007 -- Alan Greenspan's critics are crying foul over the former Federal Reserve chairman's new spin on why the economy is hitting the skids. In numerous interviews promoting his book "The Age of Turbulence" - for which he received an $8 million advance - Greenspan claims the White House's spending binge is largely to blame for the current credit crunch. But some analysts and portfolio chiefs say Greenspan was the problem from the start. In fact, many market observers loudly predicted the coming mess four...

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said it is possible that the euro could replace the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency of choice. According to an advance copy of an interview to be published in Thursday's edition of the German magazine Stern, Greenspan said that the dollar is still slightly ahead in its use as a reserve currency, but added that "it doesn't have all that much of an advantage" anymore. The euro has been soaring against the U.S. currency in recent weeks, hitting all-time high of $1.3927 last week as the dollar has...

Today the left-wing websites and blogs have been going crazy with news that Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve System, in a book just published, blamed the Iraq War on a quest for oil. These blogs and sites have been filled with comments from liberals basically saying, “Ah hah, we knew it all along”.

WASHINGTON -- Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan spent much of the past 40 years as an influential economic adviser to both Republicans and Democrats, but today feels estranged from both. News coverage of his memoir has focused on his criticism of Republicans for forsaking their small-government principles. But in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Greenspan expressed just as much dismay with the Democratic Party. Mr. Greenspan, a self-described libertarian Republican, said he was "fairly close" to President Clinton's economic advisers -- Treasury secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers and Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman. "The Clinton...

60 Minutes aired an interview with former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan this evening. He inferred Nixon was vulgar and profane, Ford was a nice guy, Reagan wasn't that bright and was just an opportunist intested in his public image, and naturally Bill Clinton was the smartest of all that he'd served under. He went on to say how bright Hillary was and that Bush lied to him about the truth of our prosperity. Now folks, I'm considering the source and I knew where this propaganda piece was heading, but it was pathetic. Barf-a-rama.

AMERICA’s elder statesman of finance, Alan Greenspan, has shaken the White House by declaring that the prime motive for the war in Iraq was oil. In his long-awaited memoir, to be published tomorrow, Greenspan, a Republican whose 18-year tenure as head of the US Federal Reserve was widely admired, will also deliver a stinging critique of President George W Bush’s economic policies. However, it is his view on the motive for the 2003 Iraq invasion that is likely to provoke the most controversy. “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is...

One of the most influential business books ever written is a 1,200-page novel published 50 years ago, on Oct. 12, 1957. It is still drawing readers; it ranks 388th on Amazon.com’s best-seller list. (“Winning,” by John F. Welch Jr., at a breezy 384 pages, is No. 1,431.) The book is “Atlas Shrugged,” Ayn Rand’s glorification of the right of individuals to live entirely for their own interest. For years, Rand’s message was attacked by intellectuals whom her circle labeled “do-gooders,” who argued that individuals should also work in the service of others. Her book was dismissed as an homage to...

A former ABC News consultant fired last year because he couldn't authenticate academic credentials is at the center of a new dispute over apparently faked interviews with Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Bill Gates and others. The consultant, Alexis Debat, quit the Nixon Center, a Washington think tank, on Wednesday after Obama's representatives claimed an interview with the senator appearing under Debat's byline in the French magazine Politique Internationale never took place. The interview quoted the Democratic presidential candidate as saying the Iraq war was "a defeat for America." Pelosi, Gates, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, former United Nations Secretary-General...

Dec. 11, 2006 Greenspan sees a sinking dollar Bloomberg News Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the dollar will probably keep falling because it's unlikely that international fund managers will continue to increase their allocations to the U.S. currency. Russia and other oil-producing currencies are shifting their assets out of dollars toward the euro and yen, a Bank for International Settlements quarterly report showed Monday. Greenspan said the dollar, heading for its fourth annual decline in the past five years, will probably keep falling until the U.S. current-account deficit diminishes. "It's imprudent to hold everything in one currency," Greenspan...

Ten years ago yesterday, Alan Greenspan made what was to become the most famous speech in his 18-year tenure as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Against a backdrop of a strong economy and soaring stock market, Mr. Greenspan said: "How do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values? . . . We should not underestimate . . . the interactions of asset markets and the economy. Asset prices, particularly, must be an integral part of the development of monetary policy." Stocks indeed were surging when Mr. Greenspan spoke at the annual dinner of the American Enterprise Institute...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Thursday the U.S. economy was pulling away from the shoals of a sharp housing-sector downturn and that the outlook for growth was "reasonably good." "Most of the negatives in housing are probably behind us," Greenspan said at a conference sponsored by the Commercial Finance Association "The fourth quarter should be reasonably good, certainly better than the third quarter." The government reports on third-quarter economic growth on Friday. After shooting ahead at a 5.6 percent annual clip at the start of the year, the economy advanced only 2.6 percent in...

  'Kitchen Cabinet' ... Gordon   Gord hires Greenspan GORDON Brown began building his government-in-waiting last night by hiring the world’s greatest moneyman as his guru. The Chancellor hand-picked Alan Greenspan as he began assembling a star chamber ready for No 10. The 79-year-old American will be his economic adviser. He will try to help turn Britain into one of the best-performing countries. Hugely-respected Mr Greenspan only stepped down as chairman of the US central bank on Tuesday. His decision to work with the Chancellor shows Mr Brown is already assembling his own “kitchen Cabinet”. Last night a Whitehall official...

just breaking!!!!!!!!

Charges against White House officials in the Valerie Plame Leakgate case could include violating her husband, Joseph Wilson's, civil rights. That's the bizarre claim from NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell, who insisted on MSNBC's "Hardball" Monday night that Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has likely determined that Leakgate is, at least in part, a civil rights case. "You know, it‘s not just perjury or conspiracy or obstruction, there are other really important criminal charges," Mitchell claimed. "We‘re even told that there could be a conspiracy charge, conspiracy to violate Joe Wilson‘s civil rights." Filling in on Baltimore radio station WMAL, talker Steve...

WASHINGTON -- Frequently the fate -- gratifying, yet melancholy -- of consequential public persons is this: They so transform an ominous social landscape that, by the time they leave the public stage, the public no longer remembers the banished dangers, and hence cannot properly value the banisher. So as Alan Greenspan heads to the end, in January, of more than 18 years as head of the Federal Reserve, recall that 30 years ago the intelligentsia worried that democracies, including this one, had become ``ungovernable." The worrying was caused by inflation, then thought to be the systemic disease of democracies. The...

Here is the text of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan'sstatement on President Bush selecting Ben Bernanke to be the next chief of the central bank:"The president has made a distinguished appointment in Ben Bernanke. Ben comes with superb academic credentials and important insights into the ways our economy functions. I have no doubt that he will be a credit to the nation as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board."

RUSH: I've been thinking about this Harriet Miers problem, folks. I got a solution. Everybody's got their ideas. One of the ideas is that Harriet Miers resign, withdraw, and that Bush nominate her to the appellate court - and let her get some seasoning and go through some hearings there and get out of it that way. I have a different idea but -- oh, before I give you my idea -- I saw a news story yesterday. Let me tell you what I think of it. Sam Brownback and the vice president, Lindsey Graham, both-- (interruption) No, wait. They...

Tough talk on inflation, first by US Federal Reserve officials, then by Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, has got the markets rattled. Last week all the leading equity indices retreated, with the S&P 500 down 2.7 per cent, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 down 1.8 per cent, the Nikkei off 2.6 per cent and the FTSE 100 off 2.1 per cent. It looks as if investors are questioning the notion that the US, and to some extent the world economy, has entered a new "Goldilocks" phase with growth neither too hot (risking accelerating inflation) nor too cold (risking...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar remained firm on Tuesday near this week's three-month highs against the euro and 16-month peaks versus the yen as a Federal Reserve official joined the hawkish chorus on U.S. interest rates. The dollar also hit a two-month high against sterling and against an index of major currencies as investors priced in prospects for the Fed to press ahead with its 15-month credit-tightening campaign. Atlanta Fed President Jack Guynn told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the Fed's tightening campaign still has "a ways to go" before completion. Analysts said strong data, equity inflows and...

Is Abortion and Illegal Migrationm Linked? Accidents do not happen, because every physical event has a physical cause. The birth of a galaxy or a human being, does not happen without cause. Whatever the phenomenon, nothing happens without some "retrospective coherent" event. The actual cause may be obscure or unrecognizable, but the principle of cause and effect is always operative. Still, lacking total knowledge, we will attempt to remedy our problems even when the quality of our information is imprecise and superficial. Because we are constantly adding to our store of knowledge, the "retrospective coherent" events become less chaotic and...

The Fed Targets Your Home by John Mauldin August 26, 2005 The Problem With Forecasting Nothing Down, Interest Only Greenspan Gives a Very Clear Warning The Fed Is Targeting the Price of Your House New Orleans and Birthdays What is the relationship between housing prices and stock market forecasting? What will happen if the housing market begins to falter? Exactly what did Greenspan say about housing at Jackson Hole? We explore these topics and a whole lot more and hopefully we can tie them all together by the end of this letter as we meditate on the potential risk of...

WASHINGTON, June 26 - Federal Reserve officials, who meet this week, are beginning to suspect that the perplexing decline in long-term interest rates is more than a temporary aberration. The possibility has major implications for the economy, and it creates new puzzles for Fed officials on how they should respond. On Thursday, the Fed is all but certain to raise the federal funds rate on overnight loans between banks by another quarter point, to 3.25 percent. That would be the ninth increase in the last year, and the central bank is expected to signal that it will continue to raise...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A decision by Federal Reserve Governor Edward Gramlich to step down from his post in August underscores the rare degree to which President Bush will have a hand in molding the U.S. central bank. Bush has already named five of the seven members of the Fed's Washington-based board, although one of them, Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson, was initially chosen by President Bill Clinton. Only two members do not owe their seat to Bush: Gramlich, who said on Wednesday he will step down Aug. 31, well ahead of the expiration of his term in 2008, and Chairman Alan...

As Gov. Rendell and state legislators consider a proposal for a $7 an hour minimum wage, they should also bear in mind Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan's warning that such a move "prevents people who are at the early stages of their careers... from getting a foothold in the ladder of promotions." Wage-hike proponents often argue that minimum-wage employees haven't had a raise since Congress last increased the national rate. But few entering the workforce at the minimum wage stay there for long. Nearly two-thirds get a raise within one to 12 months. Most low-wage earners simply don't need...

by Dan Gainor April 22, 2005 It’s rare that The New York Times ignores a chance to push for tax increases, but it was the case yesterday. Over at The Washington Post, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan’s comments before the Senate Budget Committee yesterday were described “that he expects tax increases to be part of any eventual agreement to reduce the federal budget deficit.” The Times took another approach entirely and focused on Greenspan’s call to reduce the deficit. Sometimes, it’s easy to see how differently two newspapers look at a story. Just compare how different the two headlines appear:...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Governor Ben Bernanke has the edge in the latest betting over who will succeed Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve chief, but sources close to the Bush administration say it is still early in the decision process. President Bush's decision earlier this month to nominate Bernanke to head the White House Council of Economic Advisers prompted speculation that the top White House economics job may be an audition for Greenspan's post. "Bernanke is a strong Washington player with good insights," said William Beach, a scholar at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington. "He's...

Remember the concept “Owning a piece of the American Dream?” That goal you had when you graduated from college to eventually own your own home? Well, some recently released statistics suggest that, although the percentage of homeowners in our nation is at an all-time high, the preponderance of interest-only and home equity loans is creating a society of baby boomers that might never actually achieve this dream. Maybe even more concerning is that these home “lessees” don’t seem to mind. As reported by The Sacramento Bee: http://www.sacbee.com/content/homes/re_news/story/12425263p-13281615c.html "‘Folks paying off their loans and owning their homes free and clear is...

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR TODAY marks the fifth anniversary of the peak of the great millennial stock market. What were you doing when the lights began to dim? Were you a bull or a bear? Rich or otherwise? What about today? Are you inoculated against the new alleged sure things? Or perhaps you believe in the permanent hegemony of the dollar in the world's currency markets? In the inevitability of rising house prices? Or of falling interest rates? Answer true or false: the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board is clairvoyant. From the March 2000 top to the October 2002 trough, the...

Questioning the wisdom of Alan Greenspan in political Washington is akin to challenging the integrity of the pope in Rome, so figures in both parties agreed yesterday that the top Senate Democrat's description of the Federal Reserve Board chairman as a "political hack" was a blunder. But Democrats said the accusation by Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) reflected a real frustration in the minority party with Greenspan. Even before Reid's attack, Democrats say, they have been changing their view of Greenspan from one of an above-politics wise man to the Republican partisan he had been in the 1960s and '70s....

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) talked a tough game last month as he attempted to play the Tom Dachle role of obstructionist. His plan appeared to be to fly in under the radar and criticize the president and his policies without having to stand behind his own words. That failed miserably when the RNC released a 13-page document to more than a million people - including in Reid's home state of Nevada - analyzing and criticizing his votes and stances before he officially took over as Senate Democratic leader in January. Harry Reid then cried uncle, calling on President Bush personally...

Reid Calls Greenspan A "Political Hack": Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid: "[I]'m Not A Big Greenspan Fan ... I Voted Against Him The Last Two Times. ... I Think [Alan Greenspan's] One Of The Biggest Political Hacks We Have In Washington." (CNN's "Inside Politics," 3/3/05) Reid Was In Superminority Twice In Voting Against Greenspan: In 2000, Reid Was One Of Only Four Senators To Vote Against Greenspan's Nomination. Only Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and the late Paul Wellstone (D-MN) also voted against the Greenspan nomination. (Greenspan Nomination, CQ Vote #6: Confirmed 89-4: R 50-0; D 39-4,...

In an era when Washington policymakers have been splurging on Social Security surpluses while increasingly resorting to blue smoke and mirrors in their budget accounting, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan offered a brief lesson in reality-based arithmetic when he testified Wednesday before the House Budget Committee. Mr. Greenspan was asked to enumerate the consequences for interest rates and the economy if the deficit-generating budget impasse that has characterized policymaking for the past three or four years were allowed to continue.

WASHINGTON, March 2 - Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve chairman, warned today that federal budget deficits are "unsustainable" and urged Congress to consider both spending cuts and tax increases as possible solutions. In his gloomiest assessment yet about the government's budget outlook, Mr. Greenspan warned that annual shortfalls were "unlikely to improve substantially in the coming years unless major deficit-reducing actions are taken." The Fed chairman emphasized that his strong preference was to reduce the deficit through spending cuts rather than tax increases. But he insisted that Congress needed to offset the costs of making Mr. Bush's tax cuts permanent....

There’s a reason why they call Alan Greenspan the Maestro. In testimony to the Senate Finance Committee last Wednesday, the Fed chairman offered a compelling endorsement of President Bush’s Social Security reform with personal accounts that was both powerful and thoughtful, both persuasive and nuanced. What was Paul Krugman’s reaction in his Friday New York Times column? You won’t be surprised: According to America’s most dangerous liberal pundit, Greenspan “has betrayed the trust placed in Fed chairmen, and deserves to be treated as just another partisan hack.” This isn’t the first time Krugman has called Greenspan a “hack.” That’s...