I cannot conceive of a politically feasible solution to this problem which will overdo cutting the deficit, where overdoing means harming the economy. It might be technically possible, but it is not realistic.
ALAN GREENSPANDeficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth.If I seem unduly clear to you, you must have misunderstood what I said.
More Alan Greenspan Quotes
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We are in the midst of a once-in-a-century credit tsunami. Central banks and governments are being required to take unprecedented measures.
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I’m a better economist than I was a sax player.
ALAN GREENSPAN -
Any informed borrower is simply less vulnerable to fraud and abuse.
ALAN GREENSPAN -
And whatever their publicized angst over Saddam Hussein’s ‘weapons of mass destruction.
ALAN GREENSPAN -
Well, you probably will always believe there should be laws against fraud, and I don’t think there is any need for a law against fraud.
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Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights.
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Nor can private counterparties restrict supplies of gold, another commodity whose derivatives are often traded over-the-counter, where central banks stand ready to lease gold in increasing quantities should the price rise.
ALAN GREENSPAN -
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.
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Many of those who purchased their residence more than a year ago have equity buffers in their homes adequate to withstand any price decline other than a very deep one.
ALAN GREENSPAN -
The probability of ten consecutive heads is 0.1 percent; thus, when you have millions of coin tossers, or investors, in the end there will be thousands of very successful practitioners of coin tossing, or stock picking.
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Senator, we are groping for understanding, the knowledge you assume I possess doesn’t exist’.
ALAN GREENSPAN -
The abandonment of the gold standard made it possible for the welfare statists to use the banking system as a means to an unlimited expansion of credit.
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The gut-feel of the 55-year old trader is more important than the mathematical elegance of the 25-year old genius.
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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.
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They then need to reach a judgment about the probabilities, costs, and benefits of the various possible outcomes under alternative choices for policy.
ALAN GREENSPAN