Greenspan's Bubbles: The Age of Ignorance at the Federal Reserve by William Fleckenstein, Fred Sheehan
|
List Price: Our Price: $11.46 You Save: $10.49 (48%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $9.81 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Greenspan's Bubbles: The Age of Ignorance at the Federal Reserve
Book Review: Fist Fight?
Summary: 2 Stars
The book appears to contain a few things of substance, but you have to look so hard to get past the vitriole it's almost not worth the effort. I'm not a big Greenspan fan and certainly not his apologist, but Fleckenstein appears to be pissed beyond reason. I get the impression Fleckenstein thought he should have been appointed Fed Chair and hasn't gotten over it yet. If Greenspan was as imbecilic as Fleckenstein tries to paint him, he wouldn't be able to find his way to the men's room without a GPS. Come on Fleck, get over it. You've got something to say. Could you possibly say it without all the name calling and innuendo. Why not take Greenspan out on the playground and you two can duke it out? Take a deep breath. Count to ten. Have a glass of wine.Book Review: If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention
Summary: 4 Stars
It's taking me a long time to read this because I become so angry that I have to put the boook down. This well-documented collection of mistakes at the highest financial levels, and the following "spin", demonstrates that the bigger the job, the more likelihood of error, and the greatest likelihood is that the person in charge maintains arrogant ignorance and shovels it out to the unsuspecting public.Book Review: The Mystery of Alan Greenspan
Summary: 4 Stars
In fall 1999, six months before tech stocks went into free-fall, the bestselling book "The Internet Bubble" was published. In it, the authors described how the financial foodchain of entrepreneur, venture capitalist, investment banker, and public stock speculator created the tech bubble. The authors also did the math to show how grossly over-valued Internet companies were.
For most of this rampant speculation, Alan Greenspan was enabling the process by expanding the money supply and cutting interest rates. The authors of "Greenspan's Bubbles" document, in Greenspan's own words, why they think the Chairman was doing this. Greenspan's utterances--especially those behind the closed doors of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) that the authors were able to access up until 2001--prove, the authors say, that it was because Greenspan drank the "new economy" Kool-Aid and thus didn't think there was a bubble.
Other critics feel that Greenspan's statements, both private and public, were merely a cover to try to maintain the legitimacy of the Fed as long as possible....
http://www.itulip.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2405#poststop
Readers will have to decide which theory they find most feasible.
Book Review: You Can't Dispute the Facts Provided in the Book
Summary: 5 Stars
Shocking!! Great facts supporting the book. Truly shocking to see how irresponsible Greenspan acted in cuting rates when there was no evidence to support these cuts. From this book you can understand how Greenspan's ego created long term troubles for the US economy which could have resulted in shorter recessions. He even encourages fellow Americans to seek adjustable rate mortages (p. 155). Unbeleivable!!!Book Review: Greenspan: Idiot or economic charlatan?
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is hardly cozy, bedtime reading, but its short length (194 pgs.)
makes it fast reading. Author Fleckenstein takes the former Fed Chairman's public pronouncements over the course of the 1980s into the 2000s, and contrasts them with the Chairman's statements during Fed deliberations from the same period, the transcrips of which have recently
been releassed. In my opinion the result shows that Greenspan's reckless policies are directly responsible for the recently-popped lending and housing bubbles that we'll all end up paying for via monetary inflation.
Reading this book (among others) makes me want to move to Switzerland where I can be out of reach of results of inflationary Congressional action about to take place to bail out builders, borrowers and bankers.