Greenspan on Bush: Political control trumped policy

A few years removed from his retirement as Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan is speaking his mind about the current Administration.  His new book, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World, is in stores starting today.  In an interview with the New York Times, Greenspan highlighted his opinion that President Bush is more concerned with power and control than with being a true conservative:

“I’m just very disappointed,” he said glumly, as he sat in hisliving room. “Smaller government, lower spending, lower taxes, lessregulation — they had the resources to do it, they had the knowledge todo it, they had the political majorities to do it. And they didn’t.”

In the end, he said, “political control trumped policy, and they achieved neither political control nor policy.”

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that President Bush did not veto one spending bill when Republicans had control of Congress, helping add at least $2.5 trillion to the national debt.

The White House readily responded to Greenspan yesterday regarding the former Fed Chair's belief that the US went into Iraq for oil.  White House spokesman Tony Fratto called Greenspan's comments a "Georgetown cocktail party analysis."

According to the Los Angeles Times, Alan Greenspan's memoir is really three books in one:

• Book One: Who Greenspan is.
• Book Two: Greenspan's world view.
• Book Three: Greenspan's account of public policy.

Of his failures, Greenspan admits he failed to recognize the importance of the adjustable rate mortgage problem.