More Greenspan: Maybe it is jsut me, but it seems that Alan and the Feds are becoming a little too full of their abilities to plan the economic future of the US and by extension, the world. Reminds me of the great 5 Year Plans put forward by the Soviet Union. As someone pointed out the otehr day, (my apologies for not remembering who)the country had plenty of shoes, but no shoelaces.
So now Alan thinks he hads the right and responsibility to determine what are "reasonable" and "rational" valuation levels for assets. In essence, people are getting to wealthy, too fast, for his tastes. With all due respect, my rate of return in the last six months has been just fine, thanks for askin'. I really don't need Alan nosing around my financial accounts passing judgement on their value relative to three or four years ago. And I certainly don't need him to arbitrarily decide that things are irrational, or overvalued, overheated, unjustified or even just plain silly.
These assets have appreciated as a consequence of the interaction between supply and demand. Period. For one man to have the audacity to interfere with that process, with such extraordinary ramifications for the individual lives of millions of people, tells me that there is too much power in the hands of an unelected figure.
I agree with marginmike -- Greenspan and Rubin's "brilliance" has been as much a function of luck as anything. True brilliance would have been to foresee the events they managed so "deftly" and acted to avoid them preemptively.
Hey, the guy is human. Frankly, I think he is too full of himself. Too many magazine covers, interviews, and tens of millions of people hanging on your every word will do that to someone. Couple that with the inherent government need to be "doing something" and you get a man and an institution reaching beyond their job description.
I suppose he/they could just raise rates until the market had adjusted down to a level they're comfortable with. Somehow, I think my and Alan's comfort levels would differ quite a bit....
mmeggs
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