Alan Greenspan: The Oracle Or The Master Of Disaster?

Thomas B. Edsall
HuffPost

On June 10, 1999, at the height of his power, Alan Greenspan told members of Harvard's graduating class how, in the future, they should assess their lives: "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."

At the time, Greenspan, 73, clearly thought he had lived up to his own standard. Four months earlier, on February 15, Time magazine had honored him with a cover story, presenting Greenspan as the de facto chair of the three-member "Committee To Save The World."

The American economy Greenspan had overseen for 12 years from his perch as chairman of the Federal Reserve was, by his description, "in the grip of what . . . Joseph Schumpeter, many years ago called 'creative destruction'.... This is the process by which wealth is created, incremental step by incremental step. It presupposes a continuous churning of an economy as the new displaces the old."

(More here.)