So get off my ass.
Given the decoupling of monetary policy from long-term mortgage rates, accelerating the path of monetary tightening that the Fed pursued in 2004-2005 could not have "prevented" the housing bubble. All things considered, I personally prefer Milton Friedman's performance appraisal of the Federal Reserve. In evaluating the period of 1987 to 2005, he wrote on this page in early 2006: "There is no other period of comparable length in which the Federal Reserve System has performed so well. It is more than a difference of degree; it approaches a difference of kind."How much does it matter whether the bubble was caused by inappropriate monetary policy, over which policy makers have control, or broader global forces over which their control is limited? A great deal.
If it is monetary policy that is at fault, then that can be corrected in the future, at least in principle. If, however, we are dealing with global forces beyond the control of domestic monetary policy makers, as I strongly suspect is the case, then we are facing a broader issue.
Alan Greenspan: The Fed Didn't Cause the Housing Bubble [WSJ]
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2009 11:06AM
one of the most pathetic attempts at self exculpation ever printed in the WSJ. Next I want to see George Bush say he had no idea how the CIA in Afghanistan got the idea it was OK to torture people.
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2009 11:06AM
"Wasn't me."
Didn't Shaggy say that too in that song about banging some ho when his girlfriend walked in?
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2009 11:07AM
@2- yes, thanks for getting the joke
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2009 11:13AM
@2 it comes from an Eddie Murphy joke about what to do when your caught cheating. Just say "it wasn't me" (in the Shaggy song you can hear Eddie's voice sampled).
Nice try Greenspan. Nice try.
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2009 11:13AM
I posted "first" and it got scrubbed. Nice to see someone is patrolling the area.
According to Greenie, there are only two ways house prices can blow out: bad monetary policy (which we quickly read could not have been the problem) or some vague "global issues." No possibility for the Fed to rein in neg-am NINJA loans, I guess. No, that would be excessive regulation, can't have any of that.
Well now we will have it, thanks to Greenspan, who will have to console himself by sleeping with a platinum statue of Ayn Rand.
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2009 11:20AM
Kudlow is wearing a blue shirt with white collar and cuffs!! I suppose he is wearing white shoes or at least some spats.
Posted by Seaman Bodine II , Mar 11, 2009 11:21AM
@1
pussy
Posted by Anal_yst , Mar 11, 2009 11:26AM
I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself, but this is such p*ssy bs:
"NEWS STORY FOR N. 5094 (Source: DJ)
11:25 03/11 *DJ Obama: Earmarks `Done Right' Shouldn't Be Eliminated <"
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2009 11:27AM
gesturing with hand over forehead -
W
E
M
L
Posted by merkin capital partners , Mar 11, 2009 11:48AM
"I personally prefer Milton Friedman's performance appraisal of the Federal Reserve... he wrote on this page in early 2006: "There is no other period of comparable length in which the Federal Reserve System has performed so well."
Oh no shit you preferred that appraisal? I preferred the guy who said he didn't see me wearing the clown suit but the jury couldn't get over the stains.
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2009 11:49AM
ughhhh... dennis neale. what a boil on the butt. now he's on cnbc claiming he's "reporting."
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2009 12:24PM
Di
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2009 12:28PM
Did I read that right? "Globalization made a booboo, not me." Isn't that fairly anti Fried.man?
Shouldn't the economic baby had a nappy on?
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2009 12:35PM
http://paxarcana.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/mr_magoo.jpg
Posted by polizeros , Mar 11, 2009 12:36PM
Why anyone believed a word this charlatan said is beyond me.
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2009 12:47PM
"My good friend John Taylor..." I'm guessing the AG's and the JT's don't hang out so much, anymore.
Posted by cy , Mar 11, 2009 1:08PM
10-
Yeah. Unbelievable. "That" is how he would like to remember the fed? I wonder if Friedman would give the fed the same high marks were he to see what has taken place now.
Greenie-
You still have yet to explain, given all you know/believe about markets setting prices vs. central planners setting prices why a group of 20 or so old men would be better at setting interest rates than a market process. Also, you still have yet to acknowledge that when you artificially depress interest rates, you are going to cause an undersupply of savers and an oversupply of borrowers. THIS is what creates unsustainable investment booms. Not "fraud."
Here is an interesting quote from the article, "If we are to retain a dynamic world economy capable of producing prosperity and future sustainable growth, we cannot rely on governments to intermediate saving and investment flows." NO FUCKING SHIT?! So then why do we have a Federal Reserve that tries to do exactly that??
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2009 2:17PM
Greenie should keep his mouth shut. The more he clamors for respectability the more of it he loses. He's taking some serious body-blows on this board today.
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2009 3:35PM
The Economist actually did a story on the global savings glut before the housing bubble collapsed. Greenspan's analysis makes a lot of sense. It also helps explain the housing bubbles that occurred in UK and Spain and other countries.