I am not saying Greenspan is not part of the problem. However our entire culture is based on consumption rather then savings. This applies to cars, credit card debt, housing… pick a topic. Is Greenspan to blame for all the saps that run up Visa bills? I didn’t know that the Fed was responsible for purchasing all those boneheaded mortgages to begin with from the lender. Last I checked Wall Street did that. Nor did I know that the Fed sat and signed loan docs with all those buyers who shouldn’t have purchased to begin with. Yes I guess our country is that stupid, that we need to create an economic policy that will protect simpletons from themselves. This is sad. So everyone better blame one guy and his policy for this. Did the Fed persuade the hedge funds and pensions to purchase all those bad loans? Does the Fed control Fannie and Fred? Again, please do not mistake this post for endorsing Greenspan because I certainly do not. Yet to single him out is just another example of scapegoat politics. Yes the Fed controls the overnight rate but last I looked long term mortgages were tied to the 10 and 30 year treasuries. So words like this from our congress just go to show how boneheaded they are. If they didn’t agree with his policies then they should have challenged him every time he spoke before them. Again, I don’t like the Fed at all, but poorgradstudent called it, this was a MAJOR team effort with the US consumer leading the way.
