Greenspan calls housing boom an imbalance -
Friday, August 26, 2005 3:00:01 PM
afxpress.com
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (AFX) -- In his sharpest words to date about rising home prices, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan described the housing boom as an economic imbalance that could end badly. In prepared remarks to the Jackson Hole Fed policy conference, Greenspan said high home prices are partly due to low risk premiums demanded by investors. Such increases in asset values "are too often viewed by market participants as structural and permanent
"History has not dealt kindly with the aftermath of protracted periods of low risk premiums," Greenspan said. Greenspan warned asset values could fall if investors grow cautious and demand higher interest rates. "What they perceive as newly abundant liquidity can readily disappear," Greenspan said
"Any onset of increased investor caution elevates risk premiums and, as a consequence, lowers asset values and promotes the liquidation of the debt that supported higher prices," Greenspan said
Greenspan said the flexibility of the economy is the most important policy asset in handling any shocks from a fall in asset values
He expressed optimism that the adjustments could be made gradually and a recession could be avoided
"If we can maintain an adequate degree of flexibility, some of America's economic imbalances, most notably the large current- account deficit and the housing boom, can be rectified by adjustments in prices, interest rates, and exchange rates rather than through more-wrenching changes in output, incomes, and employment," Greenspan said
Protectionism and the large U.S. fiscal deficit threaten that flexibility, he said
The Fed chairman, who is scheduled to leave office by the end of January, said central bank forecasts and monetary policy are becoming increasingly driven by changes in asset prices, such as equities, bonds and real estate |
