Welcome. Sit down, relax, and prepare for one heated intellectual debate. In one corner we have the representative of capitalism, Alan Greenspan, while in the other corner Naomi Klein, a leftist leaning Canadian journalist and author well know for her “anti global capitalism” stance. Naomi Klein fervently attacks Greenspan on numerous issues, but somehow he manages escape Naomi’s intellectual death grip. One particularly interesting point Greenspan makes is that
the sub-prime crisis did occur as a result of lower interest rates. The lower interest rates, however, are, if one takes a look at the whole context of rising home prices throughout the world, is clearly a global issue. It is the result of fundamental changes that occurred as a consequence of the end of the Cold War, and that housing bubbles appear in more than two dozen countries around the world, which screams for an explanation that is global, not individual.
Now I am not an expert so I cannot clearly distinguish if this comment is pure sophistry or genius, but it strikes me kind of odd that he indeed was the person in charge of keeping interest rates low, yet he blames this on external factors. Clearly the housing bubbles came about as a result of “easy money” policies which were implemented by The Federal Reserve and other such central bankers. It is a shame that in the interview he does not elaborate on what these “fundamental changes” are. Does he refer to just the mere collapse of socialist central planning? It would’ve been interesting if he mentioned at least a dozen of those countries. However, I will end my rant here. Enjoy the interview.
Part 1:
[youtube BUj4WFpFY4c]
Part 2:
[youtube OZ9YbCrdy5A]
Part 3:
[youtube faE-DINnvto]
Part 4:
[youtube dV9SRxeD75I]