To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (37144 ) 7/25/1999 12:50:00 PM From: JohnG Read Replies (2) | Respond to
Jim Willie--Good post. Unlike many others here, I like Greenspan. I see his problem as one of promoting Asian and European growth and recovery (because the US will eventually go down with them if their economies aren't restored)as difficult as that is (The Japanese have exhibited that they just don't have the strength of leadership to make painful economic decisions; the European socialists also protected inefficient structures, jobs and companes for more than a decade while the US went through painful, hurtful downsizeings, closeings and division selloffs; the Russians won't even set up enabeling commercial law, banking, criminal law enorcement and private property ownership but just keep wanting money transfusions). As a result, he is left primarily with growling, hissing and threatening to 1) keep the US stock market aomewhat deflated 2) keep the demand push inflation in check in the United States. So there has evolved within our government this comic opera between Greenspan and congress. The recent small increase in interest rates was required just to maintain his credibility. He won't increase rates again in the near future unless loss of credibility forces him to do so.
