Greenspan Has 'No Particular Regrets'

Former FED chair calls housing crisis 'a global phenomenon'
By Jim O'Neill,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 23, 2007 5:41 PM CST
Greenspan Has 'No Particular Regrets'
Former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan speaks during the 91st LIMRA International Annual Meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007, in Boston.(AP Photo/Bizuayehu Tesfaye)   (Associated Press)

The US housing market crisis is not the result of Federal Reserve policies but part of a global phenomenon, former Fed chair Alan Greenspan says. "I have no particular regrets," he said yesterday in Oslo. "The housing bubble is not a reflection of what we did, as it is a global phenomenon," Bloomberg reports.

Furthermore, “no one expected” the subprime collapse, Greenspan adds, asserting the problem is over for one excellent reason: "It went to zero and can't get any lower.''  Economists are divided over Greenspan’s 18-year reign; some say dropping the Fed funds rate to 1% was an important contributor to the housing boom. (More Alan Greenspan stories.)

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