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American consumers might benefit if lenders provided greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed-rate mortgage.

Alan Greenspan

In the process we have created [a] privileged elite whose incomes are being supported at non-competitively high levels by immigration quotas on skilled professionals.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Competitively Immigration Income Level Process Profession Quota Support
History has not dealt kindly with the aftermath of protracted periods of low risk premiums.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Aftermath Dealt History Period Premium Protracted Risk
The need for values is inbred. Their content is not.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Content Inbred Need Value
We may be in a rapidly evolving international financial system with all the bells and whistles of the so-called new economy. But the old-economy rules of prudence are as formidable as ever. We violate them at our own peril.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Bell Call Economy Evolve Financial International Rapid System Whistle
Amateurs want to be right. Professionals want to make money.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Amateur Money Professional Right
It’s hard to overemphasize how important Ford’s deregulation was. True, most of the benefits took years to unfold-rail freight rates, for example hardly budged at first.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Benefit Deregulation Hard Important Look Overemphasize True Year
Improvements in lending practices driven by information technology have enabled lenders to reach out to households with previously unrecognized borrowing capacities.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Capacity Drive Enable Household Improvement Information Lead Out Practice Reach Technology Tender
Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the ‘hidden’ confiscation of wealth.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Confiscation Deficit Hide Scheme Simply Spend Wealth
If we allow terrorism to undermine our freedom of action, we could reverse at least part of the palpable gains achieved by postwar globalization. It is incumbent upon us not to allow that to happen.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Action Allow Freedom Terrorism Undermine
Significantly opening up immigration to skilled workers solves two problems.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Immigration Open Problem Significant Skill Solve Work
In an economy that already has lost some momentum, one must remain alert to the possibility that greater caution and weakening asset values in financial markets could signal or precipitate an excessive softening in household and business spending.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Already Asset Business Caution Economy Great Lost Momentum Must Possibly Predictable Remain Spend Weakness
I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you’ve probably misunderstood what I’ve said.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Clear Guess Out Particular Turn Warn You
The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So there is zero probability of default.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Always Debt Default Money Print Probability States United
I’m a plain soap kind of guy.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Guy Kind Plain Soap
We as central bankers need not be concerned if a collapsing financial asset bubble does not threaten to impair the real economy, its production, jobs and price stability.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Asset Banker Bubble Central Collapse Concern Do Economy Financial Threaten
Everyone has one. You have to, to exist you need an ideology. The question is whether it is accurate or not.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Accurate Everyone Exist Ideology Need Question
If we were to do that we would increase the supply of skilled workers that our schools have been unable to create and as a consequence of that we would lower the average wage of skills and reduce the degree of income inequality in this country.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Consequence Country Degree Income Reduce Skill Supply Unable Wage Work
Stripped of its academic jargon, the welfare state is nothing more than a mechanism by which governments confiscate the wealth of the productive members of a society to support a wide variety of welfare schemes.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Academic Government Jargon Mechanism More Nothing Scheme State Strip Support Welfare
Need to consider not only the most likely future path for the economy but also the distribution of possible outcomes about that path.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Consider Distribution Economy Future Likely Outcome Path Possible
Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders’ equity are in a state of shocked disbelief.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Disbelief Institution Interest Lend Self Shareholder Shock
I didn’t believe in absolutes, moral or otherwise. If I couldn’t prove a proposition with facts and figures, it was without merit.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Absolute Believe Fact Figure Moral Otherwise Proposition
By far the most significant event in finance during the past decade has been the extraordinary development and expansion of financial derivatives.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Decade Development During Event Expansion Extraordinary Far Finance Most Significant
While local economies may experience significant price imbalances, a national severe price distortion seems most unlikely in the United States, given its size and diversity.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Distortion Economy Experience Imbalance Local National Price Seem Severe Significant
I must say, I never expected to see the day where I would be talking about anything other than reducing the debt, I’m running into the tyranny of zero, which is where you can’t reduce (the debt) any more
ALAN GREENSPAN

Anything Day Expect Must Reduce Say Talk
The free lunch has still to be invented.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Free Invent Lunch Still
But how do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values, which then become subject to unexpected and prolonged contractions as they have in Japan over the past decade?
ALAN GREENSPAN

Asset Escalate Exuberance Irrational Unduly Value
But material success is possible in this world and far more satisfying when it comes without exploiting others.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Come Exploit Material Other Possible Satisfy Success

American consumers might benefit if lenders provided greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed-rate mortgage.

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American consumers might benefit if lenders provided greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed-rate mortgage.

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