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Greenspan Gets Pummeled by Congress

October 23rd, 2008

Oh how the housing mess has brought down the both the little folks and the high and mighty.

Alan Greenspan got his comeuppance on the witness stand in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform today, finally admitting he had relied too much on the free market to police itself during the housing bubble.

Eighteen years as Fed chief, Greenspan will go down not as the "maestro" he was once called but as the guy who kept rates too low and encouraged all kinds of exotic mortgage and investment products.

This one detail from the Congressional hearings today, courtesy of Bloomberg News, says a lot.

"(Committee Chairman Henry) Waxman and other lawmakers repeatedly interrupted Greenspan as he answered their questions, in contrast to deference to his testimony while he was Fed chairman."

Entry Filed under: News