Locking the Barn Door After The Horse Is Out
Dec 3rd, 2005 at 6:24 am by Susie
Oh, now he tells us:
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan expressed concerns Friday that America’s failure to deal with its exploding budget deficit and worldwide efforts to erect trade barriers could disrupt the global economy.
Speaking at an economic conference in London, Greenspan said so far the United States has had no problem financing its current account trade deficit, which last year hit a record $668 billion, because of the flexibility of the American economy.
But he said such flexibility would be threatened by rising protectionism, which would increase barriers to the flow of goods and investments across the U.S. border. He also worried about the harm that could be done if the United States and other nations do not get their budget deficits under control.
And yet, he told us giving Bush’s massive tax cuts to the wealthy was no big deal, even though it bloated the deficit. Seems like he’s mastered the Beltway art of saying one thing and doing another…
This is the guy who has always thought that inflation was the biggest worry, until Bush needed to be reelected. So he dropped interest rates as low as they could go, until after the election.