Comment on Greenspan and the Fed
October 5th, 2005 | by mbhunter |From the Contrarian Chronicles on MSN.com: Greenspan: The worst Fed chief ever
Ouch.
Past chairman William McChesney Martin once commented that the Fed’s job was “to take away the punch bowl just when the party is getting going,” meaning that the Fed should raise interest rates as the economy is recovering to avoid rampant borrowing and speculation — to “cool it down.”
Though Alan Greenspan might be responsible for repeatedly spiking the punch rather than taking it away, why was it deemed necessary to create a punch bowl in the first place? Why can’t the free market set the interest rates and let those who want to drink, drink, instead of having the Fed either liquoring us all up or forcing temperance on all of us?
Oh well, at least the caterers are starting to wheel away this punch bowl. But man, that punch was strong — you could almost light it! Bring on the hangovers!
3 Responses to “Comment on Greenspan and the Fed”
By JLP at AllThingsFinancial on Oct 7, 2005 | Reply
and if Greenspan had done things differently, they’d be griping about that. Hindsight is 20/20.
By mbhunter on Oct 7, 2005 | Reply
JLP, true, I suppose that you can’t please everybody regardless of what you do. They’re have been more responsible Fed chairmen, though.
By Keith on Oct 13, 2005 | Reply
It always seems to me that people’s debt accumulates faster than their wealth thus without Greenspan’s guidance, the free markets would spend all their time taking advantage of those who are burdened with high debt, resulting in less opportunities for those who save, invest and spend wisely.