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Greenspan: The Financial Crisis Was Caused By A 'Once-In-A-Century' Event • Taleb: Any Pilot Who Doesn't Know About Storms Shouldn't Be In the Cockpit
Greenspan's big defense is that the financial crisis was caused by a "once-in-a-century" event.
Forget about the fact that the "once-in-a-century event" couldn't have happened if Greenspan's Fed hadn't:
- Turned its cheek and allowed massive fraud
- Acted as cheerleader in chief for unregulated use of derivatives at least as far back as 1999 (see this and this)
- And for subprime loans
- Allowed
the giant banks to grow into mega-banks. For example, Citigroup's
former chief executive says that when Citigroup was formed in 1998 out
of the merger of banking and insurance giants, Greenspan told him, “I have nothing against size. It doesn’t bother me at all”
- Argued that economists had conquered the business cycle, and that modern, technologically advanced financial markets are best left to police themselves
- Preached that a new bubble be blown every time the last one bursts
- Kept interest rates too low
- And did alot of other hinky things
More importantly, as Nassim Taleb repeatedly points out, financial experts who don't plan for rare events are like pilots who don't know about storms.
There are storms out there, Taleb says, and any pilot who doesn't know how to deal with storms shouldn't be flying. Similarly, no one should be in a position of financial leadership if they don't know about - and plan for - the infrequent event:
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Curious that Taleb is in this post. I have read both of his books. Somewhere in there he states that whenever there is a blowup, those responsible always plead: "It was a once in a century event." Since I read Taleb - about four years ago now - I have seen a few blow-ups, and sure enough..."It was a once in a century event." Always.
Poor Greenspan. History won't be kind to the Maestro. I can see it on his tombstone..."It was a once in a century event."
but will he live to be a hundred?
You are correct Crab Cake, this the 21'st century theft of a generation. But I think this time they have used us one to many times, because I think everyone is just tapped out and can't keep going on.
$1.6-trillion in badly written Sub-Prime mortgages was a typical bubble. $2.4-trillion in scam-job "Customer Credit" fakery going into CDS casino bets was Greenspan-besotted, black swan up yer keester criminality.
BTW: who won the bulk of that $2.4-trillion ??? And apart from Mike Burry, who did pay the taxes, what happened to the 35% times $2-trillion == $700-billion tax bill ?
"once-in-a-century"
As in only once in a hundred year period can the bankers get away with generational theft.
Once in the 1700's, once in the 1800's, once in the 1900's, once in the 2000's....
Exactly, and now that the main member/owner of the US central Bank Federal Reserve, the Rothschild family, are ready to once again steal trillions from the world. Many USA banks are so bad off the FDIC dares not close all the ones they know are underwater. So the next step, nationalize the big USA banks under the Federal Reserve.
Rothschild say, "All your bases are belong to us... now get back to work debt slave!"
Outright-lier not outlier...
JACKASS WARNING:
http://williambanzai7.blogspot.com/2010/03/jackass-zone.html
JACKASS REDUX:
http://williambanzai7.blogspot.com/2010/03/jackass-ii-redux.html
Why does anyone care what this moron thinks?
DUMB AND DUMBER:
http://williambanzai7.blogspot.com/2010/03/dumb-and-dumber.html
Senile old fool. Go back to playing with the mashed peas on your plate.
Greenpsan should be in jail, or at least he should keep his dumbass mouth shut. Why is anyone still giving this a-hole press time?
A better question. Why isn't his nemesis, William White getting the press time? After all, only one of them was right...
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,635051,00.html
nah, c'mon now, it WAS a once in a century event..... its only once ina century that such a toolbag would somehow be given that job
Once in a century event? Apparently he can't count to 100 either or he would have known it was time.
very damn good point. i found "atlas shrugged" convincing when i was fourteen. to use it to guide the financial policy of a reserve currency nation seems. to me, incautious.