Alan Greenspan Far Quotations

People don't realize that we cannot forecast the future. What we can do is have probabilities of what causes what, but that's as far as we go. And I've had a very successful career as a forecaster, starting in 1948 forward. The number of mistakes I have made are just awesome. There is no number large enough to account for that.

Diplomacy is really far less important than the stock movements within Russia.

Fear is a far more dominant force in human behaviour than euphoria - I would never have expected that or given it a moment's thought before, but it shows up in the data in so many ways.

There is a limit to how long and how far deficits can be sustained,

New hires and recalls from layoffs... are far below what historical experience indicates, ... To a surprising degree, firms seem to be able to continue identifying and implementing new efficiencies in their production processes and thus have found it possible so far to meet increasing orders without stepping up hiring.

I would clearly prefer that if you can't run the surpluses, you have to get rid of the surpluses, I would far prefer reducing taxes than increasing spending. I don't think it's a close call,

history cautions that investors' anticipations of the cumulative magnitude of policy actions and their timing under such circumstances are far from perfect.

I would strongly suggest that, while there is an obvious strongly desired sense to move rapidly, it's far more important to be right than quick,

We've come a long way through this adjustment process and we're still standing and that's good news, ... is still not doing well but (is) far better given what has happened than I would have forecast six, eight, nine months ago.

Doubtless, the substantial improvement in the access of business decision makers to real-time information has played a key role, ... Today, businesses have large quantities of data available virtually in real time. As a consequence, they address and resolve economic imbalances far more rapidly than in the past.

Faster economic growth, doubtless, would make deficits far easier to contain. But faster economic growth alone is not likely to be the full solution to currently projected long-term deficits.

Somewhat to my surprise, this came out as a far more robust relationship, indicating the greater the deficit, the greater the long-run interest rate,

As we prepare for the rollover, it is most important to keep in perspective just how far we have come in our Y2K preparations,

Indications that the extent of the application of existing technology is still far from complete, plus potential benefits derived from continuing synergies, support a distinct possibility that total productivity growth rates will remain high or even increase further,

I do not deny that many appear to have succeeded in a material way by cutting corners and by manipulating associates, both in their professional and in their personal lives. But material success is possible in this world and far more satisfying when it comes without exploiting others.