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Greenspan image tarnished by newly released documents - The Washington Post
Keywords:
Transcripts released for the U.S. Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) 2006 meetings show Fed chairman Bernanke and then New York Fed president Geithner ignored the risks of a hard landing from the mortgage and housing bubble. Geithner even went so far as to say about retiring chairman Greenspan, who also ignored the risks from the bubble and set the tone during his long period as chairman at the Fed: "I'd like the record to show that I think you're pretty terrific, too...And thinking about the probabilities, I think the risk that we decide in the future that you're even better than we think is higher than the alternative." In evaluating the risks facing the U.S. economy in December 2006, at the height of the bubble, Geithner stated: "The current weakness in the economy still seems principally to stem from the direct effects of the slowdown in housing on construction activity... The softer than expected recent numbers don't argue in our view, for a substantial reassessment of the risks in the outlook." The Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, said at the first meeting in March 2006: " Strong fundamentals support a relatively soft landing in housing... I think we are unlikely to see growth being derailed by the housing market." When a Fed economist gave a presentation in March 2006 on the risks in Iceland, Bernanke said- "We'd like a full report on the Icelandic," at which point the rest of the group erupted with laughter. Iceland defaulted on its debts in 2008. Warnings about housing by Fed Governor Susan Bies were ignored by Bernanke and Geithner. Two highly leveraged Wall Street investment banks collapsed in 2008- Bear Stearns in March and Lehman in September- from the impact of the bursting of the bubble in housing and mortgages. When they collapsed these banks were leveraged at about 30 to 1, as most of the warning signs had been ignored by regulators including the Federal Reserve.
Greenspan's role in the global financial crisis of 2008.
04/08/2008
The role that Greenspan's philosophy of letting markets do their own thing without any sort of restraint or checks played in the collapse in 2008 across the US, Europe and emerging markets.
Grouped Articles
His Legacy Tarnished, Greenspan Goes on Defensive
Wall Street Journal 04/08/2008
Taking Hard New Look at a Greenspan Legacy
New York Times 10/09/2008
Asian Officials Push Back Against Savings Glut Theory
Wall Street Journal 07/04/2009
A Year After a Cataclysm, Little Change on Wall St.
New York Times 09/12/2009
Summers Says More Regulators Could Join Fed to Police Risk
Wall Street Journal 09/12/2009
Fed Chooses Staff Economist as Head of Bank Supervision
Wall Street Journal 10/21/2009
Jim Rogers has some useful thoughts about the economic crisis.
01/02/2009
Jim Rogers a co-founder of Quantum Funds along with Soros, talks to Maria Bartiromo. He thinks LTCM or Long Term Credit Management, which was rescued by the Fed and Treasury in the Greenspan-Rubin era, should have been allowed to fail. The economy would have been able to handle the resulting dislocation.It would have sent strong signals to the banks and made them cautious about overleveraging and bad bets. Lehman would have taken time to recover and things would be different today.
Grouped Articles
Jim Rogers Doesn't Mince Words About the Crisis
BusinessWeek 02/26/2009
The Other Plot to Wreck America
New York Times 01/10/2010
Greenspan image tarnished by newly released documents - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/13/2012
Inside the Fed in 2006: A Coming Crisis, and Banter
New York Times 01/12/2012
Fed chief Bernanke urges better financial regulation to prevent crises
Washington Post 01/04/2010
Mr. Rajan Was Unpopular (But Prescient) at Greenspan Party
Wall Street Journal 01/02/2009
Raghuram Rajan
01/02/2009
Former IMF chief economist and critic of Greenspan policies.
Grouped Articles
Mr. Rajan Was Unpopular (But Prescient) at Greenspan Party
Wall Street Journal 01/02/2009
India's Central Banker Lobbies Fed
Wall Street Journal 10/13/2013
Balancing Act for Indiaâs Top Banker
New York Times 11/07/2013
Interest Rates: The Zero Percent Solution
BusinessWeek 08/25/2010
BusinessWeek 11/04/2010
After the Bailouts, Washington's the Boss
Wall Street Journal 12/29/2009
John Taylor on U.S. leadership for the world economy
11/01/2011
Grouped Articles
A Slow-Growth America Can't Lead the World
Wall Street Journal 11/01/2011
Greenspan image tarnished by newly released documents - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/13/2012
Wall Street Journal 01/25/2012
Wall Street Journal 02/11/2012
Wall Street Journal 05/26/2012
Wall Street Journal 05/26/2012
A Citigroup restructuring plan, and bank restructuring plans that were never developed by Treasury Secretary Geithner for President Obama
01/02/2009
Ron Suskind documents the making of key economic decisions in the Obama White House from 700 hours of interviews in his new book released in Sept 2011: "Confidence Men: the Obama White House, Wall Street and the Education of a President." In the book he says Obama asked Geithner to develop a plan for restructuring Citigroup after the bailout of Citi. A month later he followed up in a meeting, and was told by Romer at a meeting Geithner did not atttend, that no plan had been developed. The President's response was "it better be." Geithner says he was asked to do so but "fortunately there was never a need to put them in place."
Grouped Articles
New York Times 05/16/2010
A Conflict in Geithner's New Job- Not Exactly
New York Times 11/18/2013
Charlie Rose Talks to Robert Reich
BusinessWeek 10/21/2010
A Stress Test for the Latest Bailout Plan
New York Times 02/14/2009
Citigroup Hits 'Penny Stock' Realm
Wall Street Journal 03/06/2009
Obama, Geithner Get Low Grades From Economists
Wall Street Journal 03/11/2009
Geithner's close contacts with Goldman, Chase, Citigroup and BlackRock.
01/02/2009
Grouped Articles
New York Times 05/16/2010
A Conflict in Geithner's New Job- Not Exactly
New York Times 11/18/2013
Obama, Geithner Get Low Grades From Economists
Wall Street Journal 03/11/2009
New York Times 04/01/2009
Geithner's Plan: Loopholes Galore
BusinessWeek 04/01/2009
Book Review: 'Stress Test' by Timothy F. Geithner
Wall Street Journal 05/12/2014
U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner on the state of financial regulatory reform in mid- 2011
01/02/2009
Geithner says efforts in Congress to slow the implementation of the Dodd-Frank legislation hurts efforts to put in place necessary protections for the financial system after the crisis of 2008.
Grouped Articles
Trench Warfare: Send In the Deputies
New York Times 04/16/2010
Obama Presses Regulators to Finish Financial Rules
Wall Street Journal 08/20/2013
Obama Presses for Action on Bank Rules
New York Times 08/19/2013
A Dodd-Frank Retreat Deserves a Veto
Wall Street Journal 07/20/2011
Barney Frank, Financial Overhaul Defendor in Chief
New York Times 07/21/2011
Debating Dodd-Frank: Is 'Too Big to Fail' Gone?
Wall Street Journal 07/21/2011
Lawrence Lindsey on how Bernanke's Fed has boxed itself in with no choice but to keep interest rates low and no clear exit strategy
01/04/2010
Economist Lindsey says Fed chairman Bernanke has to keep interest rates low for the U.S. government to be able to cope with the increase in borrowing costs that normal interest rates would bring. The normalized interest rate - the rate at which the U.S. government was able to borrow for the last three decades- is about 5.7%. At that rate the U.S. government would add $800 billion to borrowing costs for 2021, says Lindsey. The U.S. now borrows at about 2.5%
Grouped Articles
Once Again, the Fed Shies Away From the Exit Door
Wall Street Journal 07/11/2013
Wanted: A Boring Leader for the Fed
New York Times 08/20/2013
Reflections by America’s Buddha of Banking
New York Times 01/16/2014
Wall Street Journal 06/15/2011
Fed Darkens Its Outlook but Plans No Changes
Wall Street Journal 06/23/2011
The Deficit Is Worse Than We Think
Wall Street Journal 06/28/2011
Ron Paul on the Federal Reserve and printing money
10/20/2011
Grouped Articles
Blame the Fed for the Financial Crisis
Wall Street Journal 10/20/2011
For Latin America, a Zone of Its Own
New York Times 12/09/2011
Five myths about Ron Paul - The Washington Post
Washington Post 12/10/2011
Ron Paul: The Alternative Candidate is a force to be reckoned with - The Washington Post
Washington Post 12/15/2011
Ron Paulâs âGround Gameâ Gives Him an Edge
New York Times 12/16/2011
Mr. Paul's Discredited Campaign
New York Times 12/27/2011
The U.S. Federal Reserve and conflict of interest in appointments to the boards of the Regional Fed banks
10/20/2011
Recommendations by the Government Accountability Office on conflict of interest in Federal Reserve appointments.
Grouped Articles
Fed to Fix Flaws at Regional Boards
Wall Street Journal 10/20/2011
Wall Street’s resurgent prosperity frustrates its claims, and Obama’s - The Washington Post
Washington Post 11/07/2011
Greenspan image tarnished by newly released documents - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/13/2012
Allan Meltzer's program for the economy and advice to the Fed and policymakers in 2011-2012
08/11/2011
Allan Meltzer on the dangers of a loose monetary policy and the need for an early exit strategy.
Grouped Articles
Once Again, the Fed Shies Away From the Exit Door
Wall Street Journal 07/11/2013
Bhidé and Phelps: Central Banking Needs Rethinking
Wall Street Journal 07/16/2013
The Folly of Economic Short-Termism
Wall Street Journal 08/11/2011
This Time, Maybe the U.S. Is Japan
Wall Street Journal 08/13/2011
Kansas City Fed President Defies Conventional Wisdom
New York Times 08/13/2011
From World War II, Economic Lessons for Today
New York Times 08/13/2011
How much of a factor were low interest rates under Greenspan in creating a bubble in housing prices?
01/02/2009
Fed chairman Bernanke was a Fed Governor who advocated low interest rates at the time. His response. Expert opinion.
Grouped Articles
Wanted: A Boring Leader for the Fed
New York Times 08/20/2013
What's Needed in the Next Fed Chief
New York Times 09/15/2013
Fed chief Bernanke urges better financial regulation to prevent crises
Washington Post 01/04/2010
Lax Oversight Caused Crisis, Bernanke Says
New York Times 01/04/2010
The Fed and the Crisis: A Reply to Ben Bernanke
Wall Street Journal 01/10/2010
Bernanke’s Bid for a Second Term at the Fed Hits Resistance
New York Times 01/23/2010
Raghuram Rajan on the risks to the U.S. economy and society before the 2008 financial crisis
01/02/2009
Is Bernanke making the same mistake made by Greenspan by keeping interest rates too low for too long. Would a stronger safety net in the US ease pressures on the US Federal Reserve to do excessive monetary easing and instead allow the Fed to let a more natural rise in employment take place? He isn't ideological and joins John Taylor, George W Bush's economic advisor, and Allan Meltzer of Carnegie-Mellon, in questioning Bernanke's excessive monetary easing. In 2005, Rajan was prescient in questioning the Greenspan Fed's policies and the risks from excessive leveraging in the financial system at the Jackson Hole conference.
Grouped Articles
Mr. Rajan Was Unpopular (But Prescient) at Greenspan Party
Wall Street Journal 01/02/2009
Interest Rates: The Zero Percent Solution
BusinessWeek 08/25/2010
BusinessWeek 11/04/2010
The Case Against the Bernanke-Obama Financial Rescue
New York Times 05/16/2014
Charting the Economic Fault Lines
BusinessWeek 02/10/2011
Wall Street Journal 02/05/2011
Shadow Fed chairman John Taylor
01/20/2011
Taylor provides advice on the Romney Plan.
Grouped Articles
John Taylor: The Republicans' Shadow Fed Chairman
BusinessWeek 01/20/2011
Wall Street Journal 06/27/2011
New York Times 09/06/2011
Stimulus Has Been a Washington Job Killer
Wall Street Journal 10/03/2011
Greenspan image tarnished by newly released documents - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/13/2012
Wall Street Journal 01/25/2012
John Taylor and other experts on the U.S. budget, deficits, and private investment for jobs
01/27/2009
Taylor asks why the U.S. cannot get by on a budget that is 20% of GDP, when this is what the budget was in 2007 and GDP is much larger today. He says private investment can do a better job reducing unemployment and creating a growing U.S. economy. Taylor provides advice on the Romney Plan.
Grouped Articles
Bhidé and Phelps: Central Banking Needs Rethinking
Wall Street Journal 07/16/2013
Obama's Permanent Spending Binge
Wall Street Journal 04/22/2011
Five Lessons for Deficit Busters
Wall Street Journal 06/20/2011
Wall Street Journal 06/27/2011
Charlie Rose Talks to Robert Rubin
BusinessWeek 08/04/2011
Washington Post 08/07/2011
Fed chairman Bernanke and New York Fed president Geithner ignore warnings in 2006 about the housing bubble
01/02/2009
Transcripts of the meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve show new Fed chairman Bernanke and Head of the New York Fed discounted the growing risks in the U.S. housing markets in 2006. Fed governors Janet Yellen and Susan Bies raised the issue in meetings at the Fed. Transcripts show a sense of complacency had set in at the Fed with Bernanke confident about a soft landing for the housing market.
Grouped Articles
Central Bankers Hone Tools to Pop Bubbles
Wall Street Journal 07/08/2013
Wall Street Journal 09/15/2013
What's Needed in the Next Fed Chief
New York Times 09/15/2013
Book Review: 'Stress Test' by Timothy F. Geithner
Wall Street Journal 05/12/2014
The Case Against the Bernanke-Obama Financial Rescue
New York Times 05/16/2014
New York Times 05/17/2014
The Geithner March 23, 2009 Plan for attacking toxic assets with government money to private investors.
01/02/2009
The Geithner Plan and the views of people like Krugman in the NYT, and Peter Eavis of the WSJ Heard on the Street column who doubt this will work and outline their reasons. If so it will be a costly error as job losses continue to worsen the situation each month that passes without a solution that works.
Grouped Articles
A Conflict in Geithner's New Job- Not Exactly
New York Times 11/18/2013
Obama, Geithner Get Low Grades From Economists
Wall Street Journal 03/11/2009
Book Review: 'Stress Test' by Timothy F. Geithner
Wall Street Journal 05/12/2014
The Case Against the Bernanke-Obama Financial Rescue
New York Times 05/16/2014
New York Times 05/17/2014
New York Times 05/19/2014
Criticism of Bernanke's role at the Federal Reserve
01/02/2009
The difficult renomination and the subsequent 70-30 vote with 30 Senators opposed including Boxer, Feingold, Sanders and others. This follows Ron Paul's criticisms in Congress of the Fed's role- see that link group.
Grouped Articles
Martin Feldstein: The Federal Reserve's Policy Dead End
Wall Street Journal 05/09/2013
Bhidé and Phelps: Central Banking Needs Rethinking
Wall Street Journal 07/16/2013
Fed Chairmanâs Departure Casts a New Light on the Bush Legacy
New York Times 07/26/2013
Wanted: A Boring Leader for the Fed
New York Times 08/20/2013
Wall Street Journal 09/15/2013
What's Needed in the Next Fed Chief
New York Times 09/15/2013
Philadelphia Federal Reserve bank president Charles Plosser and other expert criticism of Fed chairman Bernanke's monetary policy.
01/04/2010
Plosser says the Fed cannot create jobs or retrain a workforce. In the short term the Fed can act against disinflation, says Plosser, but in the long term Fed policy such as the one being pursued by Bernanke can backfire and lead to more instability in the economy. The Dallas Fed President, Richard Fisher, expresses similiar views.
Grouped Articles
Martin Feldstein: The Federal Reserve's Policy Dead End
Wall Street Journal 05/09/2013
Once Again, the Fed Shies Away From the Exit Door
Wall Street Journal 07/11/2013
Bhidé and Phelps: Central Banking Needs Rethinking
Wall Street Journal 07/16/2013
Bravo for Bernanke and the QE Era
Wall Street Journal 01/20/2014
Wall Street Journal 01/18/2011
Wall Street Journal 02/09/2011
The Federal Reserve and moral hazard
08/29/2011
Grouped Articles
Fed Faces Old Foe as Hazard Returns
Wall Street Journal 08/29/2011
For Latin America, a Zone of Its Own
New York Times 12/09/2011
Five myths about Ron Paul - The Washington Post
Washington Post 12/10/2011
Greenspan image tarnished by newly released documents - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/13/2012
Thomas Hoenig and other experts on the "too big to fail" banking crisis that hovers over the U.S. economy
09/23/2010
Former Fed Governor of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank for 20 years, Thomas Hoenig, has followed Fed policy over a long period. He has maintained throughout that government backing takes away an essential element in the safe and conservative practices of financial institutions by encouraging the taking of excessive risks. The only way to ensure their safety is for creditors to know they bear serious risks and for the systemically important financial insitutions to know that not following safe financial practices can put these institutions and management out of business.
Grouped Articles
GE Capital, AIG to Get More Government Oversight
Wall Street Journal 07/09/2013
Weâre All Still Hostages to the Big Banks
New York Times 08/25/2013
Soothing Words on 'Too Big to Fail' But With Little Meaning
New York Times 12/11/2013
BusinessWeek 09/23/2010
Wall Street Journal 05/01/2013
Banks Ordered to Add Capital to Limit Risks
New York Times 04/08/2014
Liquidity Trap in Japan and the U.S.
03/17/2008
With the demand curve for money horizontal further increases in the money supply do little to lower interest rates, or as in the current situation where the interest rates in the US are virtually at zero so that further increases in the money supply do little to stimulate the economy. As unemployment is growing and the financial sector weak, Bernanke and the Fed see other ways in which quantitative easing helps a recovery. Here Chritopher Woods compares today's situation in America to that of postbubble Japan. He says America is already in a liquidity trap. And the regulatory forbearance to cleanup the banking mess is similiar to that in postbubble Japan when it took the government years to get up the will and strength to straighten out the mess including breaking up the banks that are too big to fail.
Grouped Articles
Is the U.S. Economy Turning Japanese?
Wall Street Journal 10/27/2009
Economist 10/15/2009
Economist 12/30/2009
Fed’s Bullard Raises Policy Concerns
Wall Street Journal 07/29/2010
Opinions Are Split on Fed Policy Move
Wall Street Journal 11/01/2010
Ben S. Bernanke - What the Fed did and why: supporting the recovery and sustaining price stability
Washington Post 11/04/2010
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