Greenspan Quotations

If you believe that markets operate in Alan Greenspan fashion, then you don't inquire into the details.

There is no person on the planet who is going to be able to fill Greenspan's spot without a test, ... I'm not sure that it's a coincidence that the market crash of 1987 happened two months after Greenspan took office.

We've been able to achieve great things amid great challenges- including the stock market crash of 1987, the bursting of the stock bubble in 2000, two wars and the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Alan Greenspan might be thought of as our most valuable economic player.

We're going to see what Bush says tonight, and we're going to see what Greenspan says tomorrow -- now that's a real one-two punch.

What he's shown is that you can have full employment and low inflation at the same time. The Keynesian school didn't believe that, but Greenspan showed that it could be done.

Yes, Greenspan does admit the obvious, that the real federal funds rate has risen considerably, but he quickly concludes that the rate 'remains fairly low'. This is Fed-speak for the notion that the Fed will continue to raise rates by a quarter percentage point...as far as the eye can see.

This will not alter Greenspan from his tightening course. As long as consumer demand remains healthy, he will be vigilant on the inflation front.

There are fears the data will be strong and Greenspan will lay the groundwork for tightening. In that environment, how do you bring in buyers?

We really don't want to give Greenspan a grade yet. You want to wait a year or two to see whether the seeds turn to weeds.

The CPI report was very tame. It sort of reflects the comments by Alan Greenspan that even though monetary policy is way too expansive right now, inflation is sufficiently a non-event, a non-problem, so the Fed obviously can wait at this point,

The problem with the Greenspan Fed is that it has been a 'make it up as you go along' Fed. There is no philosophy with Greenspan. He changes his mind about all of this stuff.

There is a little bit of uncertainty about what exactly Mr. Greenspan will say today. Investors want to hear about interest rates. Yes, the economy has shown some signs of suffering recently, but that's countered by other data indicating continued improvement overall. Investors are cautious until they hear more from Greenspan today.

Secretary Snow and Chairman Greenspan both know that if there is no further movement by Thanksgiving, our legislation will pass,

Mr. Greenspan said next to nothing about the current economic situation in his testimony, ... does not sound to us like a signal he has changed his mind on the appropriateness of the current level of interest rates. The rest of the testimony was a clear and unambiguous plea to Congress not to abandon fiscal discipline.

Mr. Greenspan may have just given us some time here. I think within the next 10 to 12 days this market is probably going to consolidate and stay with a 300-400 point range. ... When we get another interest rate cut, then the market can sail above that 9,000 level.

Mr. Greenspan is set to continue the unloosening, the risks of which are 'outweighed' by the benefits, and he'll go faster if he has to,

Mr. Greenspan is at least partly to blame for the turnaround in the fiscal position here -- his musings on the problems of ever-increasing surpluses were a clear green light to Congress to cut taxes.

Mr. Greenspan has all but ruled out a May tightening.

Mr. Greenspan didn't say anything new but his comments were one of the reasons we saw this early spurt take the market up and wane in the afternoon. But when it's all said and done, what the market is really grasping for here is some really good earnings in technology stocks.

Mr. Greenspan clearly wants to leave the door open to lower rates, but he was more explicit this time in his acknowledgement that there are risks on the other side.

Mr. Greenspan certainly left the door open about a possible hike. That whole testimony yesterday (Tuesday), while it relieved the market a bit, is being scrutinized today.

Measured could go away, ... Greenspan wants the yield on the 10-year Treasury to go up because usually, long rates are not this low until late in a tightening cycle. The bond market may be underestimating how much more tightening needs to be done.

My first priority will be to maintain continuing with the policy and policy strategies under the Greenspan era.

One may aspire to succeed Chairman Greenspan but it will not be possible to replace him,

Obviously, the market was disappointed in Apple and AMD; and you also have to realize that Mr. Greenspan has been reiterating his stance on inflation and the need to stay ahead of the inflation curve,

People were fairly attuned to Greenspan this morning, but I don't think anything he said had an impact one way or the other, and the tape almost stopped when Bush was speaking -- there was nothing surprising there. It's fairly quiet. I think we're suffering post-9/11 anniversary boredom.

On the other hand, Greenspan seems satisfied that his tightening has had a lasting effect. He's likely to stand pat for the rest of the year.

I wouldn't expect him to do anything different than Greenspan - certainly not at the beginning.

I would bet anything they rue the day they got trapped into these terms like measured, patient. The signals Greenspan and others have given is that measured still the way they want to present their stance. It's now measured with a 'but,' behind it though.

If we hadn't heard from Greenspan last week that the Fed is still worried about an uneven recovery, we might be more upset about these numbers. But Greenspan is concerned that these retail sales numbers could falter later on so these numbers probably won't have that great an impact.

If we had Alan Greenspan sitting here between us, I think he would quietly admit it's been a long time since he's been as optimistic as he is for the outlook for this economy.

I am confident that the passing of the torch from Chairman Greenspan to his successor will be smooth and seamless.

I am delighted that Dr. Greenspan has agreed to be honorary adviser. His advice on issues relating to global economic change will be much appreciated.

Certainly, people are waiting to hear what Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is going to say.

I have many private conversations with Chairman Greenspan and we never reveal what we talk about. So I don't want to break my rule.

I don't think anyone has seen this happen so quickly. I don't think Alan Greenspan has seen it happen so quickly. So he's taking out an insurance policy for himself. My best guess is that they (The Fed) are running scared. At this point we've seen such pronounced weakness across all areas of the economy that I think they're fearful this downturn is going to be very different than any in the past.

If (Alan) Greenspan were still leading the Fed, there would be more confidence in another rate hike. Now, no one can say with any certainty.

God forbid this happened next year when we'll have a new kid on the block, ... We did have that with Greenspan in 1987, and he did fine.

Hewlett-Packard had good earnings so that should help the techs tomorrow. The other companies reporting tomorrow aren't usually market movers. Greenspan also speaks to Congress, which people will be looking at, but I don't think he'll say anything too surprising. So the hope is that HP earnings will take center stage.

He talked directly about the Fed's forecasts, which Greenspan never did, and it is emblematic of his view that we have to make interest rate policies as easy to forecast as possible.

He is extremely optimistic on technology, its impact on productivity and the benefits it has to our economy. We believe Alan Greenspan does not see any burning need to further tighten policy, assuming the economy is slowing as it has been indicating so far.

He doesn't have the wide range of experience Greenspan did going into the job, which has served Greenspan well.

He not only was articulate in his views, but justified his views without making financial markets balk. He was impressive, maybe not as impressive as Greenspan, but Greenspan had 18 years to practice.

He'll keep up the Greenspan theme that the Fed's no. 1 goal is to keep inflation under control.

Whatever Greenspan says probably won't have a positive effect on the dollar. But all the same, it shouldn't be too negative.

To get a real turnaround you need to have a turnaround in earnings. The jobless claims number today probably keeps (Fed Chairman Alan) Greenspan on task in terms of lowering rates.

What will frame investor decision-making in August is going to be totally Fed-driven. We've gotten the anecdotal comments from Mr. Greenspan that we can achieve a slower growth landing but we now have to see that anecdotal evidence turn into fact.

He's Alan Greenspan all purpose sage, ... He seldom has anyone tell him, 'Why don't you be more like Fed chairman of the past?'

History will show Alan Greenspan did an outstanding job. He's just steeped in economics. He knows the data better than probably just about anyone else I know.

Greenspan will take it away on Wednesday like everyone's saying here, but he's only taking it away momentarily, ... He's taking one and he's done.

Greenspan will note the economy's robust growth pace in a low inflation environment, ... the downside risks of the international weakness . . . most recently Brazil.

Greenspan will need to either confirm the 'patient' theory or ratchet up his view on jobs and the economy.

Greenspan usually refrains from saying anything market moving ahead of speeches before Congress,

Greenspan talked very little about the current state of the economy and was really admonishing lawmakers, and he made it very clear that there will be no interest-rate cut announced after the meeting on Sept. 24. I think this may have disappointed some investors hoping for a rate cut or something more aggressive to help stocks.

Greenspan sparked a reaction. I guess people like to be verbally reassured that we can get through the oil prices.

Greenspan showed that you can have long periods of full employment without inflation.

Greenspan should weigh against asset markets in the good times -- just as he works to support them in the difficult times. He's been one-sided in his policies,

Greenspan's confidence in the predictive value of gold (as an inflation indicator) might be high enough that, when combined with other critical predictors . . . could push Greenspan to either hawkish words or action,

Greenspan saying he's optimistic about an economic recovery is as positive as it gets. He may as well jump up and down on Times Square ringing a bell.

Greenspan said that the U.S. economy had showed resilience despite soaring global crude prices, suggesting that the tolerance level of the U.S economy is much higher.

Greenspan opened the door to 50-basis-point rate hikes,

Greenspan is trying to level out this market, trying to put some two-sided risk in this market, to take some of that speculative froth out.

Greenspan is trying to be cautious by tapping the brakes ever so lightly, which I think will mean another quarter-point increase soon. This thing has so much momentum that, even though we've raised the speed limit, we're still going a little too fast.

Greenspan is the least influential event this week. We know where the economy is, and there isn't much expectation of him saying anything new.

Greenspan is suggesting that the recovery is going to be slow and that there are obstacles to a swift rebound.

Greenspan is speaking tonight and it's a matter of some concern that he could surprise people.

Greenspan is speaking on the economy and ... the unmistakable message from the Fed is that hurricanes only represent a transitory risk.

Greenspan is raising rates, and he is targeting the consumer. This is a natural reflection of what is happening out there.

Greenspan is often chided for those comments but looking back they seemed very timely,

Greenspan is not going to wake up in June of next year and say 'I should have really raised rates more aggressively.' His legacy of price stability is pretty secure so I don't think the last six months of his tenure will destroy it for him.

Greenspan is not a guy likely to brag much, but he'll indicate the economy is still in good condition, that much of the recent bubbling up in inflation is likely to prove transitory, and that fundamentals of the economy are still quite strong despite some of the recent data.

Greenspan is going to have as much influence as anybody has ever had on this critically important decision, ... Politics of Money: The Fed Under Alan Greenspan.

Greenspan is giving the markets a reality check. Good for him.

Greenspan is giving individuals ample warning that they need to take that into account. He's throwing out a yellow flag of caution.

Greenspan is giving a speech Monday night to some overseas bankers, then Thursday he will speak to Congress. Investors will be looking to him to clarify.

Greenspan is coming to the end of his term and he really wants to get the interest rate increases done before he leaves. He may feel he can't afford to take a meeting off.

Greenspan is at risk of losing his credibility, based upon the fact he was so upbeat two or three weeks ago, ... If they don't bring rates up at this meeting, he will lose credibility -- that would send a horrible message to markets.

Greenspan is an orthodox thinker in most ways, but you have give him credit for questioning consensus thinking.

Greenspan has to make sure the labor market has improved on a continuing basis before he can even think about hiking interest rates. For example, in 1992, he waited 17 months after the peak of the unemployment rate before hiking interest rates.

Greenspan has to give reassurance that, if things deteriorate, the Fed is willing to act. But the underlying structure of the economy seems pretty good.

Greenspan has to be on high alert and ready to move quicker and probably more aggressively than people have given him credit for.

Greenspan has had the most successful tenure in Fed history. He kept inflation under very tight control while avoiding any major recessions.

Greenspan has done a good job of morphing himself into the nation's chief economic officer and chief investment officer. He's been elevated to the status where we can't cut taxes unless Greenspan says we can cut them.

Greenspan has been like a dog with a bone, very tenacious, ... I think the Fed will make a mistake. They will go too far. They always go too far.

Greenspan had something for everybody, as he usually does. It depends on your frame of reference in terms of how you interpret it. I think his comments were pretty benign.

Greenspan gave the best rationale yet for higher rates -- and it is one that we agree with. His speech should ruffle no feathers, which leaves the equity market free to move higher and suggests that bearishness on bonds should not be overdone.

Greenspan gave no hint of an end to tightening.

Greenspan did not participate in supplying numbers for that forecast -- he refused to do so -- and sometimes in his testimony he didn't even mention the forecast.

Greenspan continued to be the most influential committee member. However, his dominance was markedly diminished, in that his total market impact was 'only' about twice as large as the next FOMC member.

Greenspan continued to be the most influential committee member.

Greenspan and the Fed are trying to slow down consumer spending. It's hitting the retail sector across the board, the big multiples especially,

I suspect that on Fed decisions, the president has been very much influenced by Mr. Greenspan. Greenspan and Cheney go back.

It absolutely makes tomorrow's (Thursday's) Greenspan announcement as widely anticipated as the new 'Star Wars' movie.

I think it's a very good thing. I never understood why (Federal Reserve Chairman Alan) Greenspan was encouraging people to go into short-term mortgages, because of the risk they entailed.

I think it's clear that Greenspan is saying 'I may be starting a process of tightening,' ... He's going to do as much tightening as he needs to do to get the job done.

It is a 100 percent certainty according to the U.S. interest rate bonds that Mr. Greenspan will cut rates by 25 basis points.

I think the markets probably overreacted when the Federal Reserve first moved toward a neutral operating directive. When Alan Greenspan spoke this time, I think the reality set in and that is, yes, the central bank has a neutral directive, but it's more like an ultra-right (hawkish) form of neutral directive. ... Any time they get an excuse to raise rates, they're going to take it.

I think the market is a little nervous because Greenspan talks tomorrow and everybody is expecting him to give an indication of how much of an increase we'll see next week.

I think that Greenspan will rank as one of the most effective and innovative Fed chairman that we have had -- a home-run champion.

I think that Greenspan does have a very good intuitive sense of the economy, and the hardest thing with central banking is dealing with turning points,