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This article summarizes the recent meeting that took place between Alan Greenspan and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Although Greenspan was the head of the Fed at the time of the financial crisis and responsible for keeping interest rates at record lows for a significant period of time, he stands strong in defending his actions and places the blame of the financial crisis on a list of other contributing factors. What do you guys think?
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/04/09/alan-greenspan-the-financial-crisis-was-not-my-fault/
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You know what they say... a guilty conscience needs no prosecutor. The fact that he has to deny that it's his fault shows just how many people blame him for the crisis.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don't think he's any more to blame than many other actors in this drama. I think the reason he gets so much scrutiny is that he was supposed to be some sort of economic genius who could save us from anything. If anything, I think this crisis is a good lesson that very smart people in economics can get it wrong. Nobody is infallible.
I agree with you Matt that there are so many actors who made poor decision leading up to this crisis that pinning the blame solely on Greenspan is nothing more than looking for a scapegoat.As I feel like we have been discussing in class, this situation is very unique and I'm not sure that Greenspan had any chance to prevent the crisis as a whole. Hindsight is always 20/20.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that Greenspan is completely to blame for the financial crisis nor is the "toxic sub-prime mortgages". I think that it was a combination of these factors as well as the fraud that was committed. It is really hard to say that one thing is for sure the cause and Greenspan was doing what he thought was right for economy. As Matt pointed out it just shows that they are perfect and wont be perfect.
ReplyDeleteWhen things go wrong people can't wait to place the blame. Greenspan was in the perfect position because of his policies and his status of being the chairman of the federal reserve to get the blame put on him. I am not defending Greenspan but when the economy started failing everyone in the United States looked for a single person to blame.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do agree with the author that Greenspan should not be "over his head in terms of the mathematics at work in the financial world" because of the sheer number or economic advisers at his disposal, I disagree that Greenspan is purely to blame. As we have read, there are many factors that go into a financial crisis. I feel that it is ignorant to assume that one person is responsible for an entire financial crisis and use him/ her as a scapegoat.
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ReplyDeleteI think that Greenspan had a lot to do w/ the financial crisis, primarily in the sub-prime mortgages. He continued to lower the interest rate and intice people to buy - even when they couldn't afford it. As we saw in the video from class, the FBI warned against it and if anyone should have looked into their allegations it should have been Greenspan seeing as he was in charge.
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