When history is written on the Great Housing Mania and Crash, one man will take the vast, vast majority of the blame. And his name was Alan Greenspan

October 07, 2008

When history is written on the Great Housing Mania and Crash, one man will take the vast, vast majority of the blame. And his name was Alan Greenspan

28 comments:

brian t said...: Not entirely fair: back in 2002, according to Paul O'Neill, he and Greenspan were the ones pushing for more corporate governance oversight in the wake of the Enron scandal. They lost to the SEC that time.; October 07, 2008 9:21 AM
Anonymous said...: "In late 1984, Alan Greenspan, then a private citizen, took on a consulting assignment for the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association of Irvine, Calif., and its owner, Charles H. Keating Jr. Five years later, Mr. Greenspan, as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, is finding that four-month job a source of embarrassment and regret.

''When I first met the people from Lincoln, they struck me as reasonable, sensible people who knew what they were doing,'' Mr. Greenspan said in an interview last week. ''I don't want to say I am distressed, but the truth is I really am. I am thoroughly surprised by what has happened to Lincoln.''

Lincoln was taken over by Federal regulators in April in an action that is expected to cost taxpayers $2 billion. Mr. Keating was removed from control. No Conflict Seen

To be sure, no one in Washington is saying that Mr. Greenspan has compromised either his integrity or that of his office. And they add that consulting work done when he was a private economist should pose no conflict in his current role as one of the nation's top banking regulators.

Members of Congress and banking analysts say the issue for Mr. Greenspan, a highly respected economist, is one of appearance. And his critics ask why he did not spot the germ of future troubles at Lincoln. "
NEW YORK TIMES, November 20, 1989

I guess nobody could have foreseen that a man who could not see the fraud in front of him, would lead this country to ruin.; October 07, 2008 11:58 AM
Anonymous said...: funny how he is invisable during all of this...oh yeah wait he is a advisor to A FUCKING HEDGE FUND INVESTMENT FIRM.....; October 07, 2008 12:11 PM
Anonymous said...: He looks so stately in that picture.; October 07, 2008 1:05 PM
Anonymous said...: What an ugly shleppen.; October 07, 2008 2:26 PM
Miss Goldbug said...: I wish I could agree. Sometimes history books paint a totally different picture of the guilty.; October 07, 2008 2:33 PM
Anonymous said...: But how can that rich old man have anything to do with this?

What?

Oh!

Never mind.; October 07, 2008 2:59 PM
Anonymous said...: what a baffoon.You know bernake is not doing a bad job handleing all this crap.He was probably shitting bricks last week.; October 07, 2008 3:02 PM
Anonymous said...: scapegoat of the system... the Federal Reserve System.

alternative theory: he loathes the Fed and sowed the seeds of economic runaway (like thermal runaway) during his tenure.; October 07, 2008 3:42 PM
Anonymous said...: The man truly is an enigma. This is the guy that used to be a free market zealot who hung out with Ayn Rand and wrote articles like this one for her newsletter back in 1966:

Gold and Economic Freedom by Alan Greenspan

This paper sounds just like something Ron Paul would write. Then he later becomes Fed chairman and clearly understanding the nature of inflation and fiat currency he pumps the US economy to the bubble bursting point.

Now, if I believed that a Fed chairman truly had a lot of sway over decisions at the Fed (I don't) then I would say that Greenspan was acting like one of the heroes in an Ayn Rand novel and deliberately flooded and distorted the economy with his loose monetary policy to create the crisis with the goal of destroying the fiat monetary system.

The man clearly understands what he was doing.; October 07, 2008 3:50 PM
Anonymous said...: I heard something somewhere that it was actually a plot by Greenspan to destroy the Fed.; October 07, 2008 3:54 PM
Mr. Joey said...: greenspan is an old man, but there must be something for which he can be dragged into court.; October 07, 2008 4:31 PM
Anonymous said...: Alan Greenspan, the John Law of the 21st century.; October 07, 2008 5:12 PM
Anonymous said...: "...Pinnacle Financial..."

Gotta love it; but Greenspan just controlled the valve. The convoluted CDS plumbing downstream had plenty of taps into private pockets, and nobody thought about a backflow preventer.

Suck. Us. Dry.

"...The man clearly understands what he was doing..."

Amen, brother. In an interview a few months back he was asked how he holds his assets; dollars?

"Diversified."; October 07, 2008 5:46 PM
Anonymous said...: Keeferoni,

But but, Interest rates are low now and no one is buying houses.
It’s very easy to point the finger and blame others.

Reality is (contrary to popular belief) that Greenspan was baffled himself by the housing ponzi craze,
hence his popular statement about ‘the Conundrum”

Also, make up your mind is it the.
Realtors
Mortgage brokers
Bankers
Illegals
Appraisers
Mozilo and co.
Bush
Repub
Dems
Clinton
Greedy FBers
REIC
MSM
China
Predatory lenders

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh, I’m getting dizzy.

Try for once to advocate ‘personal responsibility’ and quit blaming someone outside our own selves.; October 07, 2008 6:29 PM
Anonymous said...: One thing I feel certain: God (you betcha!) has a plan for the human race -- and I'm not talking Sarah Palin here at all! But he won't step in (no such thing as "the end of days" -- that's for wimps!). We have to figure out (and I think Jesus would agree, although we won't see him soon, I guarantee you!) how to do the most amount of good for the most amount of people over the most amount of time all by ourselves. Blaming Alan Greenspan isn't really important here, although determining what he is responsible for won't hurt. But our collective role in empowering him and other financial leaders into putting us in the current financial mess is the real issue to ponder. And the current secretive role of corporations in a shadow government would also be something we should all dutifully explore. Knowledge is power, and if we want the power to change, we need the truth. World government is either going to be a fascist financial cabal of lawless corporations running international activity, or an intelligent collection of countries using corporations synergystically as one of many available intelligent economic tools in the bigger scheme of things (currently it’s the cabal). But make no mistake: We are heading towards a world government (financial world government is already here!). It is really time for people to wake up, as it is up to all of us what world we want to leave for the next generation. And also make no mistake about population: a world of two plus billion people (approximate population in 1929?) is vastly different from a world of six-plus billion people we find ourselves in today. The synergistic forces at work here are new, and unknown, and could be used positively (am I just a Pollyanna, or what?). But until enough people truly wake up and function collectively through intelligent thinking it will be like living on an overpopulated prison planet full of fools (the probable immediate future anyways, unfortunately). At least that is the opinion of this particular fool. The blame game just makes me feel worse (and powerless), anyways.; October 07, 2008 7:03 PM
Anonymous said...: Here is another group that contributed heavily to the financial meltdown:

Illegal alien felon invaders primarily from dirty, filthy corrupt Mexico. Here's a heartwarming story of a great beginning. Adios Juan and all your rotten illegal felon siblings:

Remember, these are the people John Herbert Hoover McCain voted to protect and give 'rights; to:

MASH McCAIN & Pulverize Palin:

Raid nets 300 suspected illegal immigrants
S.C. chicken processing plant had been under investigation for months

pdated 2 hours, 41 minutes ago
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Federal agents detained more than 300 suspected illegal immigrants Tuesday in a raid at a chicken processing plant that has been under investigation for months.

(WHAT TOOK SO LONG FOR JUSTICE?)

The raid took place during a shift change, when police and federal agents spread through the House of Raeford's Columbia Farms plant and ordered all workers to show identification, according to officials and witnesses.

Maria Juan, 22, was one of about 50 relatives and friends of workers who huddled at the edge of the plant after the raid, some weeping and others talking frantically on cell phones. She was seeking information about her 68-year-old grandmother, a legal immigrant from Guatemala who went to work without identification papers but was later released.

"Families are going to be broken apart," Juan said. "There will be kids and babies left behind. Why are they doing this? Why? They didn't do anything. They only wanted to work."

(FUCK YOU and YOUR KIDS LEFT BEHIND YOU ILLITERATE PARASITE THUGS. WHY? BECAUSE YOU ARE A FELON ILLEGAL ALIEN, THAT IS WHY. YOU BROKE INTO THE COUNTRY, NOW YOU HAVE TO GO. YOU DO NOT WANT TO WORK YOU WANT TO GAME AMERICA THAT IS ALL YOU WANT TO DO)

Immigration officials kept the workers inside the plant and spent most of the morning trying to interview them and figure out how many are in the U.S. illegally, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald said.

The number could be large. A recent review found that immigration paperwork for more than 775 of 825 workers contained false information, McDonald said. Immigration agents scoured the plant for paperwork and other information for the investigation.

House of Raeford processes chickens and turkeys in eight plants in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana and Michigan. A sales manager at the Greenville plant referred questions to the company's Rose Hill, N.C., headquarters, where a woman answering the phone said there was no immediate comment.

(ARREST THE MANAGERS AND OWNERS OF THE PLANT FOR FELONY CHARGES. CLOSE THE PLANT DOWN PERMANENTLY CONFISCATE EQUIPMENT AND LAND AND SELL TO OFFSET THE ENFORCEMENT COSTS PLACE LIEN ON CORPORATION FOR FEES DUE TO US GOVERNMENT)

12 earlier arrests
Federal prosecutors and immigration agents have been investigating the plant's hiring practices for several months. Twelve people have been charged, most accused of falsifying documents. Seven have pleaded guilty, three are awaiting trial and two have fled, McDonald said.

(GO TO PRISON IMMEDIATELY DO NOT PASS GO DO NOT COLLECT $200 NEVER WORK IN THIS INDUSTRY AGAIN)

The Charlotte Observer first reported in February that plant workers were in the country illegally and company managers knew it. (EXTRA FELONY CHARGE)

One plant worker backed up that account Tuesday.

"Everyone knew most of the workers were illegal. It was no secret. We just came in and did our work and you kept to yourself," said Dorothy Anthony, who works with sister Alice on the deboning line.

The women, both American citizens, were released after showing ID.

Many workers live near the plant and drivers in the neighborhood stopped Tuesday to ask about them.

Officials are arranging to care for the children of workers detained in the raid, one of several nationwide this year.

(FUCK THAT. SEND THE CHILDREN AWAY TOO OR MAKE THE COMPANY PAY FOR THEIR CARE IN CASH ON WEEKLY BASIS USE FUNDS FOR ADDITIONAL IMMIGRATION OFFICERS))

In August, more than 600 suspected illegal immigrants were detained at a Mississippi transformer plant in the largest single-workplace immigration raid in U.S. history. And in May, federal immigration officials swept into
Agriprocessors, the nation's largest kosher (HOW ABOUT THAT, MEXICANS PREPARING KOSHER FOOD?)meatpacking plant, in Iowa. Nearly 400 workers were detained and dozens of fraudulent permanent resident alien cards were seized from the plant's human resources department, according to court records.

Note to Illegal Mexicans: America is broke. You are no longer needed or wanted. Go back to that shithole Mexico. Better Luck next time.; October 07, 2008 9:53 PM
Anonymous said...: Exactamundo.; October 07, 2008 9:54 PM
Anonymous said...: a government tool under the pay of foreign governments... perhaps but for my british heiritage i may think this tool should have been hung in the tool shed......; October 07, 2008 11:22 PM
Anonymous said...: Sorry, we don't get to write the history books. I'm sure they'll praise him, bernanke, paulson, cheney, etc.; October 08, 2008 2:22 AM
Anonymous said...: Sweet potatoes said:
"Also, make up your mind is it the.
Realtors
Mortgage brokers
Bankers
Illegals
Appraisers
Mozilo and co.
Bush
Repub
Dems
Clinton
Greedy FBers
REIC
MSM
China
Predatory lenders

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh, I’m getting dizzy.

Try for once to advocate ‘personal responsibility’ and quit blaming someone outside our own selves."

They WERE all to blame and I am not to blame. I didn't abuse my credit cards, run up unreasonable debts or buy a house I couldn't afford. I didn't game the system and do unethical things just because "it's not illegal". Most importantly, I am not a liar. I am not to blame.; October 08, 2008 2:37 AM
Anonymous said...: "World government is...a fascist financial cabal of lawless corporations."

I think you covered the salient points.; October 08, 2008 5:42 AM
Anonymous said...: I saw a couple of clips where Greenspan was asking for more over site ,but the politicians did what they wanted . Lets face it the big banking and Wall Street lobbyist owned the government and they own the media.
Nobody knew how many loan agents were fraudulent . Look at Countrywide how corrupt that Mortgage company was .
Also ,blame on these crazy CDO trenches that were high risk while they were rated AAA .; October 08, 2008 8:29 AM
Anonymous said...: "I heard something somewhere that it was actually a plot by Greenspan to destroy the Fed."

The first George Bush was supposed to bring about the New World Order. He didn't have enough time to accomplish that since we threw him out of office. So, they had to get Jr elected to complete their dirty work.

The plan is to create a crisis so large that people will give up their rights without a fight, 9-11, for instance,

And then open the borders, destroy the currency, divert our attention with a war, and create such a mess that our only way out is to become part of a New World Order, with families like the Bushes at the helm.

Doesn't sound quite so crazy anymore, does it?

So, why hasn't someone called this what it is - treason? Oh yeah, I remember. "treason doth never prosper, what's the reason? Why if it prosper, none dare call it treason."
Ovid.; October 08, 2008 10:05 AM
Anonymous said...: I'm becoming more fascinated with these people all the time. If you look at what is happening now with the massive amounts of debt. being poured into the economic system, it seems to be creating a negative feedback loop.

It seems natural that the fed of today would look at the problem in the way of thinking they are actually making money to go to work in the system, but the system is profit driven and that new "wealth" will drive the system down to parity with inflation as the smart money cashes-out.

The problem has always been the creation of debt relative to a neutral base that keeps things active enough for the system to function, with normal ups and downs. I don't know if Greenspan could have forseen as large a derivative problem attached to mortgages, but I do remember him saying something to the effect that, derivatives could be negative in a big way.

If "he" or "they" wanted to see this far into the future to bring the fed system down, they would have known that it would also bring "them" down, that I doubt, but it could have gotten out-of-control, unless they wanted cheap dollars to pay-off all that Reaganomics. Then again, could have gotten out-of-control.

I think what we have is a run-away train, the money (debt) being put into the financials is getting syphoned-off and only makes things worse, if they want to put the brakes-on, stop loading the top 2% with more monopoly money, the principal can't pay-off the interest, someone looses, (looks like the National Treasury) so....

.....maybe work on getting the middle class going again...but that may be all planned anyway, thats why the two party system works so well, one takes, the other gives.

It is complicated, but not impossible, someone just flip that damn switch over there on the wall and everything will go back to "normal". Thank you.; October 08, 2008 10:16 AM
Anonymous said...: "When history is written on the Great Housing Mania and Crash, one man will take the vast, vast majority of the blame. And his name was Alan Greenspan"-
---------------------------------
Yup. Good ole "Easy Al", bringing the Libertarian Nightmare to middle class America.; October 08, 2008 6:29 PM
Anonymous said...: Anonymous said: "World government is...a fascist financial cabal of lawless corporations."

I think you covered the salient points.

I totally agree. It conjures up scary images of all the worst stuff - Slavery, Soylent Green, Serfdom, genocide, torture ... the holocaust... do not ever think that these things can't happen again. Or worse... Now we have biotech and robots.
Have we completly lost the concept that people shouldn't treat other people like shit? I think we have.
October 08, 2008 5:42 AM; October 09, 2008 2:31 AM
Anonymous said...: He is great in the sack!!!; October 09, 2008 2:43 AM

HousingPANIC - The Housing Bubble Blog with an Attitude Problem, 2005 - 2008

October 07, 2008

When history is written on the Great Housing Mania and Crash, one man will take the vast, vast majority of the blame. And his name was Alan Greenspan

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