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If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists’ antagonism toward the gold standard.

Alan Greenspan

Senator, we are groping for understanding, the knowledge you assume I possess doesn’t exist’.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Assume Grop Knowledge Possess Exist Senator Understand
The true measure of a career is to be able to be content, even proud, that you succeeded through your own endeavors without leaving a trail of casualties in your wake.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Able Content Leave Measure Own Succeeded True
Indeed, better risk management may be the only truly necessary element of success in banking.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Bank Better Indeed Management Necessary Only Risk Truly
When trust is lost, a nation’s ability to transact business is palpably undermined.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Ability Business Loss Nation Palpably Transact Trust Undermined
Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Gold Insidious Process Property Protector Right Stand Way
The very nature of finance is that it cannot be profitable unless it is significantly leveraged… and as long as there is debt, there can be failure and contagion.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Failure Finance Leverage Nature Significantly Unless Very
The recent period has been marked by a transformation to an economy that is more productive as competitive forces become increasingly intense and new technologies raise the efficiency of our businesses…
ALAN GREENSPAN

Business Competitive Economy Force Mark More Period Productive Recent Technology Transformation
All taxes are a drag on economic growth. It’s only a question of degree.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Degree Drag Economic Growth Only Question Tax
I believe that the general growth in large [financial] institutions have occurred in the context of an underlying structure of markets in which many of the larger risks are dramatically — I should say, fully — hedged.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Belief Context Dramatical General Growth Institution Market Occur Risk Structure
Excessive optimism sows the seeds of its own reversal.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Excessive Optimism Retrospect Something
We can see that in the inverse relationship exhibited by price/earnings ratios and the rate of inflation in the past.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Earning Exhibited Inflation Inverse Past Price Ratio Relationship See
Although the outlook is clouded by a number of uncertainties, the central tendencies of the projections .. imply continued good economic performance in the United States.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Central Cloud Country Number Outlook Projection Tendency Uncertain
Any onset of increased investor caution elevates risk premiums and, as a consequence, lowers asset values and promotes the liquidation of the debt that supported higher asset prices.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Asset Caution Consequence Debt Elevate Increase Investor Lowe Onset Premium Price Risk Value
I do not deny that many appear to have succeeded in a material way by cutting corners and by manipulating associates, both in their professional and in their personal lives.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Appear Corner Cut Deny Manipulate Material Succeeded
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.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Coin Consecutive Head Investor Million Percent Pick Probably Stock Ten Tosser
If you think you understand what I am saying you do not understand what I am saying.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Say Think Understand
People dont realize that we cannot forecast the future. What we can do is have probabilities of what causes what, but thats as far as we go. And Ive had a very successful career as a forecaster, starting in 1948 forward.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Cannot Cause Far Forecast Future Go People Realize Probability
I was a fairly good amateur musician, and I was an average professional. But the one thing I saw was that the big band business was fading.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Amateur Average Band Big Fade Fairy Good Musician Professional
There’s an interesting question here because if the gold price broke in that context, the thermometer would not be just a measuring tool. It would basically affect the underlying psychology.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Context Mean Price Psychology Thermometer Underlying
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
A decline in the national housing price level would need to be substantial to trigger a significant rise in foreclosures, because the vast majority of homeowners have built up substantial equity in their homes despite large mortgage.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Bank Decline Foreclosure Housing Level National Need Significant Substantial Trigger
I love to play tennis and golf, listen to music, watch baseball and root for the Redskins.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Baseball Listen Love Music Olf Play Redskin Root Tennis
I have found no greater satisfaction than achieving success through honest dealing and strict adherence to the view that, for you to gain, those you deal with should gain as well.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Adherence Business Deal Gain Honest Honesty Satisfaction Strict Success
It keeps interest rates lower than they otherwise would be and frees savings to finance increases in the capital stock, thereby boosting productivity and real incomes.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Boost Finance Free Income Increase Interest Keep Lower Productive Rate Real Saving
…our market system depends critically on trust-trust in the word of our colleagues and trust in the word of those with whom we do business.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Colleagues Critical Depend Marlet System Trust World
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
Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which… public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.
ALAN GREENSPAN

Capitalism Condition Crony Essentially Favour Private Public

If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists’ antagonism toward the gold standard.

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If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists’ antagonism toward the gold standard.

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