Great column yesterday by Caroline Baum on how Volcker is standing tall while Al keeps shrinking, despite his increasingly desperate attempts to shore up "the legacy thing".
an excerpt:
Volcker is tall; Greenspan isn't. Volcker is a man of few words; Greenspan won't shut up. Volcker retired as Fed chair and avoided the limelight; Greenspan is doing everything possible to make sure the light shines on him.... What really separates the two men, however, is the legacy issue. Volcker is content to let his record speak for itself: He inherited inflation of almost 15 percent and bequeathed a rate of 4 percent to posterity. It took two recessions to get there, but he did the heavy lifting on inflation. Greenspan is desperate to deflect the blame for a credit crisis he called ``the most wrenching'' in 50 years. He can write his autobiography, which he did last year, but he can't write his epitaph.
Well, actually, I wouldn't put it past him!
1 comment:
Not sure I would go so far as to say Greenspan should be blamed for the credit crisis. Although he may have lowered rates for too long, he didn't force banks to lend it irresponsibly.
Central banks encourage investment and discourage inflation.
Commercial/Retail/Investment banks manage risk.
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