Alan Greenspan: The Oracle Behind The Curtain (ePub)

There is an endless supply of rave reviews for Alan Greenspan and the Fed. This is due to Greenspan's political manipulations, the reluctance of politicians to challenge the Federal Reserve, the press corps' willingness to trade glowing reviews for access, and private economists with ambitions of becoming Fed Governors. With Greenspan's announced retirement, the devastating effects of Fed actions are mounting. Even as institutional reforms are suggested, it is shown how they have been blocked by an ideology favored by financial wealth-holders at the expense of wage labor.This thought-provoking new title, by the highly acclaimed author of Wall Street Capitalism and A Brief History of Economics, provides a much-needed counterbalance to the mythical distortions of Alan Greenspan. Canterbery exposes Greenspan's fundamentalist market ideology as overwhelming rationality in the making of economic policy. He depicts a Fed selfishly guarding its political independence, even as Greenspan has his way in virtually every major economic and social policy affecting the global economy since the Ford Administration.This book reveals the hidden nodes of power that give the Fed vast authority over the global economy. It also explains why it is so important not only to understand those powers, but also to appreciate why they are resistant to moderation.Contents:Greenspan and the Myth of His PurityAdam Smith, Free Markets and the Greenspan StandardWhen Markets Have Failed, Greenspan Has Been on the SceneOn the Independence of Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve SystemFedspeak and the Innocent Hypocrisy of IndependenceWhite House Dependence and the Hypocrisy of Personal InterferenceGreenspanmail Redefines the New DemocratsFed and White House Dependence on Wall Street Investment BankersThe Fable of the Goldilocks EconomyThe Wolf at the Door of Ordinary WorkersGlobal Market FailuresThe Collapse of the Great American Stock Market BubbleDerivatives: Throwing in the ChipsFed Dependence on Hedge Funds?Greenspan Takes Us from Goldilocks to the Soft Patch and Back AgainThe Housing Bubble ConundrumSocial Insecurity: On the Cutting Edge of Federal Budget DeficitsGetting Personal with Savings, at Home and AbroadKing Alan IIProspects for ReformReadership: Trade Market: Readers of the financial news (especially those who invest in stocks, bonds and housing) and those with a lively interest in public policy and how it is made; Academic: Supplementary text for professors and university students at all levels in business, finance, money and banking, macroeconomics, principles of economics, economic history, contemporary history, and general social sciences.