Greenspan says financial crisis a "once-in-a-century" event

It would do anyone well on this subject to know that Alan Greenspan was a devotee of Ayn Rand. A woman who believed that altruism was the greatest curse to the American way of life. Google Ayn and Greenspan.
Just watching him sit there and get grilled by Waxman was a joke. He is flabbergasted! Why, I never would have ever thought this. Alan will go down in history as the poster boy for INSULT TO INJURY...IN YOUR FACE....INSULT TO INJURY. These hearings are a joke. WHY? Because they are just little mini maya culpas. There is no justice.
I remember when our President met Greenspan for the first time. He was leaving the meeting place and they were coming down some stairs. Bush quipped "He really knows what he's doing," with the excitement of a child that finds out that he'll get fifty ponies for Christmas. He was really pleased with what he heard. Why don't they play that clip? Maybe I can find it or someone else here that isn't too sickened to go any further.

This crisis is really scarey, whoever is responsible im sure doesn't understand to the fullest the seriousness of this problem. Im sure that guy is chilling in the Bahamas on his million dollar yaht and could care less that everyone else is about to starve.

Oh it's Bush, no it's Greenspan's fault, blah, blah, blah, Here's a thought, TAKE SOME F*N RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOURSELF. Our debt is not from predatory lenders, it's from delinquent borrowers!

I'd like to see one of our candidates do that, take some ownership of what their party has done wrong.

Early 90's America worked and paddled to catch the communication/dotcom wave we road through the decade, which is why we seemed to have a surplus and then the world caught up, business plateau'd and we crashed into the beach. Now it is time to collect our crap and get back to work.

AMERICA; HOME OF THE BRAVE, FREE AND NEVER OUR FAULT

This old F--T caint count. He also suffers from lack of history. The Stock market crash of 1929 was number 1 and the October surprise of 1987 was number 2 and today is number 3. This doesnt count the other times when the market bottomed out but was not considered a crash. With these big financial wizards counting, Im quite surprised that we still call it a stock market instead of a pyramid scheme. But all Capitolist Pyramid Schemes crash sooner or later. As long as the banker can rig the game, the players will pay. so this will not be the last crash only another of many to come and as usual the Taxpayer will continue to pay.

I wonder what level freemason he is.

Everyone is happy while people are making money. They only get angry when the bubble bursts. This is a simple case of instant gratification winning over caution. Many people saw the signs, and just as many ignored them to get back to the feast.

If you want to see conspiracies here you can, but I think you are misguided.

Greenspan didn't push sub prime mortgages or make people sign interest only loans.

From the Great Depression, to the stagflation of the seventies, to the burst of the dotcom bubble, and now this morgage meltdown, every economic downturn suffered by the country over the last 80 years can be traced to Federal Reserve policy. The Fed has followed a consistent policy of flooding the economy with easy money, leading to a misallocation of resources and an artificial "boom" followed by a recession or depression when the Fed-created bubble bursts. People!! the Fed does not work for the U.S. govt. or anybody but the few who control all these centralized banks.

Give me control of a nations money supply, and I care not who makes the laws.
-Mayer A. Rothschild

Yeah, unfortunately our lives are "once-in-a-century" events too. I would love to see a reality show of what these people's lives are like up close and personal.

I'm wondering why he didn't do something to prevent the so called "once-in-a-century" crisis, why there's no limit to the Power of the Financial (private) Market, why the State begin to worry 'bout it when it's almost too late? why?

A common thread in all these posts seems to be that people are stating that the financial meltdown is ALL his fault. Nobody here said that, but many have said it is partially his fault. And honestly, as long as he was the Fed, as involved as he was in the economy and decisions to adjust it, and being the one man in the country that is basically "in charge" of steering, advising on, and commenting on the economy, how on earth can me NOT be partially at fault?

He himself admitted that he made grave mistakes! Why defend him? He of ALL people should have steeered us away from this mess!

"The longtime Fed chief acknowledged under questioning that he had made a "mistake" in believing that banks in operating in their self-interest would be sufficient to protect their shareholders and the equity in their institutions. Greenspan called it "a flaw in the model that I perceived is the critical functioning structure that defines how the world works." " In other words, he did not count on the greed that these banks and lendors thrive on. I may be totally wrong on this, but I don't believe Greenspan knowingly led us into this problem.

To say that Greenspan is responsible for our current finacial problems is absolutely absurd. There is much more to be said, but I just had to throw that out there. People blame random people some times, and it just seems so illogical.

Oops- didn't mean to comment here- Please delete me :)

So this should be the second time it happened in his, right? I would have to lean towards the notion that this is very much his fault too, then.

We should be okay for 93 years. Or something.

Don't hedge your bets... this century's only just started.

Once in a century event? Wasn't the dotcom burst only 20 years ago?

He's a fool and a dangerous one at that.

This is NOT a once in a century event. This is what happens EVERY TIME you take out regulators, more commonly known as police, from the market. It creates bubbles and these bubbles burst because people are stupid and greedy.

The whole thing was a game of hot potato, with everything trying to pass off the toxic debt before it exploded. Everyone knew and NO ONE CARED.

With some basic regulation, things like that don't happen and really, no one is harmed by it.

Greenspan is just a liar for his cause. He doesn't want to admit that for the umpteenth time in his life, his philosophy has blown up in his fucking face.

Alan Greenspan counts beans, that is what he does all day, I think he knows a thing or two...

This is so far from a once in a century event. This is an event that can be prevented by responsible financial decisions for the good of everyone, instead of a few people worrying about themselves.

Greenspan has been given deference he has not deserved. He has been long revered by some and yet when we look at the mess we are in he is even admitting that his belief in the industry policing itself was wrong. He and his cronies have controlled world economies for a long time. You can bet he and his friends aren't in the bloodbath the regular investor is caught in.

They think we're dumb enough to believe this is some freak accident that rarely happens. This was calculated and intentional, just like the Great Depression and every other financial bubble burst.

He should know. He's one of the primary causes of it.

well he looks old enough to make a call about something that happens once every hundred years, seems kind of weak when your country has only been around a few hundred years.

I wonder how or if Greenspan would have handled this whole thing differently had he still been head of the Federal Reserve.