Interesting piece in the NYT this morning about Greenspan's role in the current economic crisis:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/business/economy/09greenspan.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

There is no word to describe that man. Any publicist, such as the NYT, to come out with his story now, needs to be considered complicit.

Irrational exuberance swings both ways!

I think he's doing quite well currently, in his French Exile.

I've heard that talk before - that market fundamentals have changed and all the old rules are out the window. Investments were doing well so everyone believed it. This would have been a non-story a year ago.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

I think we should rename the USA after Greenspan.

The Usury States of America.

Or even better, we could call HIM Mr. Greedspan.

He's an Ayn Rand disciple. It's hardly surprising he's anti-regulatory.

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1984 300TD

Wait a second. Would derivatives have been a problem had hundreds of billions of dollars worth of unconscionably bad mortgage loans not been made?

Maybe Greenspan's wife should look into it.

B

Considering they are derivatives of the mortgage loans, no.

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1984 300TD

See, that's why the premise of the article (that unregulated or poorly regulated derivatives caused the collapse) is untenable, IMO. Just looking at the definition of that word, and stipulating that I wouldn't know a derivative market from a logarithmic helix, the market "derives from" another market.

Not saying that derivatives are good or bad (see the part where I don't know WTF a derivative market is), just that to blame a secondary market for the effects of a primary market seems silly. Unless there's a feedback loop. Is there?

My hierarchy of blame goes this way:

Politicians > borrowers > lenders > regulators.

Borrowers, lenders, and regulators depend on legislation.

I still have a pile of Default Credits to swap. Anybody interested? It's only pennies on the $$$ ...