>> OK, but he did and investors chased after the market. So, does Greenspan become the scapegoat for investors being brainless idiots? <<
absolutely not. people are responsible for their own investment decisions. they should not rely on the government to babysit them.
>> Alright, let's just make him the scapegoat because it feels much better than taking responsibility for our own actions or in actions. <<
why does it have to be either or? why can't i criticize greenspan for his policies while at the same time acknowledging that people need to look out for themselves? i do believe that greenspan failed in his stated role as fed chief, and he is a major contributor to the mess we are in now. his current actions are only serving to make things worse.
>> Now that we have figured out that Greenspan causes the entire economy to do his bidding and that we are all helpless to his whims, what next? <<
i do not believe the economy is helpless to his whims. i believe the free markets always rule in the end. people like greenspan can meddle and prolong the inevitability, but they cannot change the ultimate long-term outcome.
>> Since the current mess had nothing to do with overzealous management or lack of sound reasoning and everything to do with a little white haired man with a briefcase, doesn't it make sense to mortgage your house now and buy stocks? <<
i believe that the conundrum we find ourselves in was a direct result of his policies. it's getting kinda late but i will try to come up with an analogy off the top of my head to describe my feelings on the matter. i guess you could liken it to a situation such as child abuse. let's say you have a child who grows up being consistently beaten by his father. then later on he goes out and commits acts of violence on society or perhaps beats his own kids. the child who now commits acts of violence is guilty of wrong behavior, but is it surprising the way he acts considering the environment he was raised in? is his father any less guilty for the way he raised his son? so i guess you could say that greenspan is like the father and we are the child. in my analogy the father introduced his son to violence at an early age, so it was no surprise that he went on to repeat the pattern. in the case of greenspan he is the one who created the environment of economic "abuse". many americans are like the child who only repeated a set of behaviors that they were continuously exposed to. neither the father or the child's behavior was acceptable, but there is a greater likelyhood that the child may have not engaged in unacceptable behavior later on in life if he wasn't exposed to the improper behavior of the parent.
i'm sorry if that is a poor analogy but that is the best i can offer on short notice.
>> He has lowered interest rates 3 basis points faster than it's been done in the past so tech companies will have no where to go but up, right? Come on guys, your looking for an excuse for all the foolishness and lack of return on investment the economy has made in well meaning but misspent <<
i totally agree. i think you mean 300 basis points btw. i find it interesting that many people blame that last 50bp hike for the economic malaise we are experiencing, yet rates are much lower than where they were before he started his first tightening! and like you said they have come down far faster than they went up. obviously there is more to the story than just a rate hike or an interest rate cut. there are systemic problems that have been developing for years now that are finally coming to a head. |
