Posted by The Crux |
From Memeorandum: former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan wrote a new book (The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World), due for public release on Monday. Both the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post ran articles about the book -- and both newspapers agree that Greenspan wasn't kind to Republicans in Congress or the White House -- but WSJ goes into less detail.
According to WSJ :
"Mr. Greenspan, who calls himself a 'lifelong libertarian Republican, writes that he advised the White House to veto some bills to curb 'out-of-control' spending while the Republicans controlled Congress. He says President Bush's failure to do so 'was a major mistake.' Republicans in Congress, he writes, 'swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose.'"
Having served as the Fed Chairman for 18 years, under six presidents, Greenspan had something to say about most of them....
According to WSJ, for example, Greenspan said the following about certain presidents:
Bill Clinton: "'a fellow information hound' with 'a consistent, disciplined focus on long-term economic growth' whose relationship with Monica Lewinsky 'made me feel disappointed and sad.'"
Ronald Reagan: had an "ability to instantly tap one-liners and anecdotes in support of a particular policy represented an 'odd form of intelligence.'"
Gerald Ford: "'was as close to normal as you get in a president, but he was never elected.'"
Richard Nixon: "The Watergate tapes... show Richard Nixon as 'an extremely smart man who is sadly paranoid, misanthropic and cynical.' He [Greenspan] recalls telling someone who had accused Nixon of anti-Semitism that he 'wasn't exclusively anti-Semitic. He was anti-Semitic, anti-Italian, anti-Greek, anti-Slovak. I don't know anybody he was pro.'"
The Washington Post's article gives more details than WSJ' artilce about -- of all things -- economic policy. WaPo excerpts are below:
"'The Republicans in Congress lost their way,' Greenspan writes. 'They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither....'
"'House Speaker Hastert and House majority leader Tom DeLay seemed readily inclined to loosen the federal purse strings any time it might help add a few more seats to the Republican majority,' he writes....
"'When Bush and Cheney won the 2000 election,' Greenspan writes, 'I thought we had a golden opportunity to advance the ideals of effective, fiscally conservative government and free markets. . . . I was soon to see my old friends veer off to unexpected directions.'
"He says, 'Little value was placed on rigorous economic policy debate or the weighing of long-term consequences.' The large, anticipated federal budget surpluses that were the basis for Bush's initial $1.35 trillion tax cut 'were gone six to nine months after George W. Bush took office.'"
WaPo's article also gives more detail about Greenspan's thoughts on former President Bill Clinton:
"'Here was a fellow information hound. . . . We both read books and were curious and thoughtful about the world. . . . I never ceased to be surprised by his fascination with economic detail: the effect of Canadian lumber on housing prices and inflation. . . . He had an eye for the big picture too."
"During Clinton's first weeks as president, Greenspan went to the Oval Office and explained the danger of not confronting the federal deficit. Unless the deficits were cut, there could be 'a financial crisis,' Greenspan told the president. 'The hard truth was that Reagan had borrowed from Clinton, and Clinton was having to pay it back. I was impressed that he did not seem to be trying to fudge reality to the extent politicians ordinarily do. He was forcing himself to live in the real world....'"
Given the differences in coverage between just these two articles, those who don't have time to read Greenspan's 500-plus-page book may want to read multiple reviews of it. Below I've listed a few:
BBC: Greenspan Attacks Bush on Economy
Bloomberg: Greenspan says Bush's Economics Driven by Politics
NY Times: Former Fed Chief Attacks Bush on Fiscal Role
MSNBC: Greenspan, the Author, Happy to Drop Fedspeak
Fox News: Two Words Mr. Greenspan : Shut Up
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