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To: Boplicity who wrote (67502)	2/18/2000 8:48:00 PM
From: techguerrilla	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Greg, AG is NOT an interventionist He has lots of different forces pressuring him. He's probably as laissez-faire as any fed chief has ever been. But we have a Board of Governors that wants to intervene because they don't understand the New Economy and its productivity standards. We also have a unique situation with the surplus and pressure to lower taxes. Frankly, I think if given his druthers AG would tell everyone to relax and let this booming economy continue onward and upward. He's not stupid. He's got to know that more intervention will drastically hurt the cyclicals. Ch‚

To: Boplicity who wrote (67502)	2/18/2000 8:50:00 PM
From: RocketMan	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 152472

He is playing economic god. It is the natural tendency of any government bureaucrat, no matter how benign his nature, to attempt to increase his own power to the level of a god. That's why Lord Acton said, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." That is also why we have a checks and balances system within our government, and three different branches. Unfortunately, the FOMC, which was formed at the start of the century in response to a run on our banks, has become a fourth branch, with little in the way of checks and balances. As you saw in the Humphrey-Hawkins testimony, few meaningful questions were aksed of the Chairman. It is as though even Congress is fearful of the Chairman's power and are willing to leave him be, under the assumption that he knows best. Well, let's see what is on the Chairman's mind these days: ANALYSIS: GREENSPAN DETAILS THREE ITEMS TO KEEP AN EYE ON 10:39 EST 02/17 --Stocks, Lower Quality Corporate Bonds, Federal Budget Very Much on the Fed Chairman's Mind By Joseph Plocek WASHINGTON (MktNews) - Alan Greenspan's semiannual Congressional monetary policy testimony was notable for its diversion into the unexpected as the Federal Reserve Chairman detailed some of the things he is looking at to help guide decision-making. Stocks, lower quality corporate bond rates, and the Federal budget surplus were mentioned prominently. ... Greenspan remains worried about the stellar level of the stock market. He said "outsized increases in wealth cannot persist indefinitely." He noted "For so long as the levels of consumption and investment are sensitive to asset values, equity values increasing at a pace faster than income... will induce a rise in overall demand in excess of potential supply." It would appear that the Chairman is now attempting to manage our budget surplus and the level of our stock market. Funny, I always thought that the Executive branch assembled a budget and the Legislative branch voted it up or down. And I always thought that the stock market was governed by free enterprise and the level of risk we are willing to assume as individuals. Our Chairman has become more daring in his approach, and now suggests that the level of the stock market should not increase faster than our income. So at a rise in our income of, say, 2-3%, I assume that our Chairman believes that the market should not rise more than 1-2% per year. Which becomes a bit of a problem, given that there is a technological revolution going on in communications, data storage, and networking. So while we are worried about the arrangement of deck chairs, with these piddly 1/4 point raises every month, the Chairman appears to be assuming more and more power to dictate the economic future of our country and the world. Quite an ambitious undertaking for a Chairman who admits that he doesn't really know what money is, and for his advisors who admit that they don't know if they are doing the right thing, but they will keep raising interest rates until something happens. Reminds me of a verse from an old song by the sex pistols: "I don't know where I'm going, but I know how to get there."