Posted on 10/20/2013 3:38:49 AM PDT by lbryce
Complete Title:Alan Greenspan: What Went Wrong The Former Fed chairman on Where the Economy Went Wrong, Where He Went wrong—and Ayn Rand.
Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, goes to a lot of parties. He and his wife, the TV journalist Andrea Mitchell, "sort of get invited everywhere," he says, sitting in front of the long bay window in his office on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C. Lately, though, cocktails and dinners seem to have guest lists drawn almost exclusively from one political party or the other. "It used to be a ritualistic 50-50 at parties—the doyennes of culture and partying were very strict about bipartisanship," he adds. "That doesn't exist anymore."
In his new book "The Map and the Territory," to be released on Tuesday, Mr. Greenspan, 87, goes on a hunt for what has gone wrong in American politics and in the U.S. economy.
He doesn't blame the current administration for today's partisan divide. The culprit? "It's the benefits," he says, pointing to the disagreements between Republicans and Democrats over how to deal with the growth of entitlements. In the book, he also ponders why the Fed failed to predict the financial crisis, where he himself went wrong and how that discovery has completely changed his worldview.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
The lack of the ability to apply her theories dooms them from the start but boy, what great works!
Good analysis, depressing that it means that the high school plays such a critical role in the lives of millions years after they become adults.
Organizational man must compromise and do things that are not always in the best interests of the organization. People do want to get along and smooth out relations.
I’ll admit, it is tough being a Conservative, having to argue with so many people all the time on points they never looked at objectively.
Well, the good news is that if you had a team of rational decision-makers, things wouldn’t be so bad. At least you could engage in debates and argue without (lasting) acrimony. Or if you have a rational decision-maker who is ably supported by rational staff, a manager could choose from a range of good ideas and know that even a wrong choice could be recovered from with the support of the staff.
But when I hear and read the news and the “reasoning” behind big decisions in government these days, my blood runs cold.:
“We have to pass the bill to know what’s in it” *Huh?*
“It’s settled law now. It can’t be changed!” *Whaa???*
I can hardly believe my eyes and ears and I just want to hide under the covers!
How can rational and well thought out enactments, bills, laws and offers be passed or rejected when they are 10,000 pages long?
Do you know how many lawyers need to be paid just to write up these proposals, where the Federal government has to cover its rear end. That costs the taxpayer millions.
There should be a law that all bills be no larger than 10 to 20 pages in length. Then maybe someone can read and understand what they are passing.
I think we Americans, are tamed wolves, formerly able to eat what we kill, and now only capable of waiting for the zoo-keeper to fill our bowls.
That is what many want - a “nanny state”. BTW we’re no longer “tamed wolves”. We’re now some kind of pedigree pup, incapable of fending for himself, expecting esoteric, free range puppy chow, a sweater against the cold and a shampoo bath once a day - oh, and can’t forget the Asthma inhaler... :-)
Indeed. I actually enjoyed her more expository works, such as Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal, more than I did Atlas Shrugged, which, although a great story, was to my mind tediously repetitive. It was as if while writing it she was grappling with how to isolate specific principles, and found solace in communicating windy summations of (now) almost cliche vignettes.
in greenspan’s interview he now claims that fear drives the market down and must be included in the economic models, but when that happens, confidence in the market’s true value will be manipulated by those who castigate every issue as a crisis; something that is happening today, and greenspan, not recognizing it as an effect of the feds policies and not a cause of market destabilization does not bode well for our economy.
trying to manipulate the market one way or the other will bring bigger financial disasters our way.
teeman
So Greenspan admits that central planning doesn’t work. That’s not a surprise nor is it unexpected.
The fact that he’s married to the loathsome Andrea Mitchell should have been a huge clue for us all about just how seriously suspect his judgment is.
>>>We are finite and fully understand nothing, and are continually surprised and dismayed. That is why we should conform our decisions to God’s directives and principles, even when it is not convenient. We do not have, nor will we ever have, all the data points.<<<
That is some of the most brilliant thinking ever presented on this website. Thank you.
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