Editing Alan Greenspan (section)

==Career==
===Before the Federal Reserve===
{{See also|Greenspan Commission}}

During his economics studies at New York University, Greenspan worked under Eugene Banks, a managing director at the [[Wall Street]] investment bank [[Brown Brothers Harriman]], in the firm's equity research department.{{Sfn|Greenspan|2007|p=31}} From 1948 to 1953, Greenspan worked as an analyst at the National Industrial Conference Board (currently known as [[the Conference Board]]), a business- and industry-oriented [[think tank]] in New York City.{{Sfn|Greenspan|2007|pp=32–34, 41–45}} Before he was appointed chairman of the Federal Reserve, from 1955 to 1987, Greenspan was chairman and president of Townsend-Greenspan & Co., Inc., an economics consulting firm in New York City. His 32-year stint there was interrupted only from 1974 to 1977, when he served as chairman of the [[Council of Economic Advisers]], under President [[Gerald Ford]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Alan Greenspan |url=https://www.federalreservehistory.org/people/alan-greenspan |website=federalreservehistory.org |access-date=April 12, 2022}}</ref>

In mid-1968, Greenspan agreed to serve as Richard Nixon's coordinator on domestic policy in the nomination campaign.<ref>{{cite book |first=Stephen |last=Ambrose |author-link=Stephen Ambrose |title=Nixon |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York |year=1987 |page=[https://archive.org/details/nixon00ambr_0/page/158 158] |isbn=978-0-671-52837-9 |oclc=14414031 |url=https://archive.org/details/nixon00ambr_0/page/158 }}</ref> Greenspan has also served as a corporate director for [[Alcoa|Aluminum Company of America]] (Alcoa); [[Automatic Data Processing]]; [[American Broadcasting Company|Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.]]; [[General Foods]]; [[J.P. Morgan & Co.]]; [[Morgan Guaranty Trust Company]]; [[Mobil|Mobil Corporation]]; and the [[Pittston Company]].<ref>{{cite press release |title=Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Board of Governors of Federal Reserve, Receives Dean's Medal at Wharton School MBA Commencement |publisher=[[Wharton School]] |date=April 19, 2005 |url= http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/whartonfacts/news_and_events/newsreleases/2005/p_2005_4_332.html |access-date=October 17, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727195705/http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/whartonfacts/news_and_events/newsreleases/2005/p_2005_4_332.html |archive-date=July 27, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=U.S. Senate Panel Votes for 4th Term for Fed Chairman Greenspan |agency =Bloomberg News |work=[[Deseret News]] |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/809511/US-Senate-Panel-Votes-for-4th-Term-for-Fed-Chairman-Greenspan.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023203407/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/809511/US-Senate-Panel-Votes-for-4th-Term-for-Fed-Chairman-Greenspan.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 23, 2012 |date=February 1, 2000}}</ref> He was a director of the [[Council on Foreign Relations]] foreign policy organization between 1982 and 1988.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grose |first=Peter |title=Continuing the inquiry: the Council on Foreign Relations from 1921 to 1996 |publisher=[[Council on Foreign Relations]] |location=New York |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-87609-192-0 |oclc=35280546 |chapter=Historical Roster of Directors and Officers |chapter-url=http://www.cfr.org/about/history/cfr/appendix.html |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/continuinginquir0000gros }}</ref> He also served as a member of the influential Washington-based financial advisory body, the [[Group of Thirty]] in 1984.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

===Chairman of the Federal Reserve===
{|class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 0.50em; margin-right: 1.5em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:25em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
|style="text-align: left;"|What I've learned at the Federal Reserve is a new language which is called "[[Fedspeak|Fed-speak]]". You soon learn to mumble with great incoherence.
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|— Alan Greenspan<ref name="BessettePitney2010">{{cite book |last1=Bessette |first1=Joseph M. |last2=Pitney |first2=John J. Jr. |title=American Government and Politics: Deliberation, Democracy and Citizenship |year=2011 |location=Boston |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0-534-53684-8 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8uu8cevL2iUC&pg=PA578 578]}}</ref>
|}
[[File:Mvc-017x.jpg|left|thumb|Alan Greenspan in 2005]]
On June 2, 1987, President [[Ronald Reagan]] nominated Greenspan as a successor to [[Paul Volcker]], as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, and the [[United States Senate|Senate]] confirmed him on August 11, 1987.<ref>{{cite book |author=United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs |title=Nomination of Alan Greenspan: Hearing Before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundredth Congress, First Session, July 21, 1987 |date=July 21, 1987 |publisher=US Government Printing Office |url=https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/279}}</ref> Investor, author and commentator [[Jim Rogers]] has said that Greenspan lobbied to get this chairmanship.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jim |last=Rogers |author-link=Jim Rogers |title=Adventure Capitalist: The Ultimate Road Trip |location=New York |publisher=Random House |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-375-50912-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/ultimateinvestor00jimr}}</ref>

Two months after his confirmation, Greenspan said immediately following the [[Black Monday (1987)|1987 stock market crash]] that the Fed "affirmed today its readiness to serve as a source of liquidity to support the economic and financial system".<ref>{{cite report |url=http://www.federalreserve.gov/Pubs/feds/2007/200713/200713pap.pdf |title=A Brief History of the 1987 Stock Market Crash with a Discussion of the Federal Reserve Response |first=Mark |last=Carlson |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=[[Federal Reserve Board]] |date=November 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.forbes.com/2008/07/01/fed-bernanke-greenspan-oped-cx_jt_0702dollar.html |title=In 2008, Shades of October 1987 |first=John |last=Tamny |magazine=Forbes |date=July 2, 2008 |access-date=June 22, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611231632/http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/01/fed-bernanke-greenspan-oped-cx_jt_0702dollar.html |archive-date=June 11, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1538304.stm |title=Central Banks Promise Support |work=[[BBC News]] |date=September 12, 2001 |access-date=June 22, 2009}}</ref> Although the Federal Reserve followed its announcement with monetary policy actions, which became known as the [[Greenspan put]], [[George H.&nbsp;W. Bush]] attributed his re-election loss to a sluggish response. Democratic president [[Bill Clinton]] reappointed Greenspan, and consulted him on economic matters. Greenspan lent support to Clinton's 1993 deficit reduction program.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/26/AR2006012602123_3.html |title=Chairman Moved a Nation |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Nell |last=Henderson |date=January 27, 2006}}</ref> Greenspan was fundamentally a [[monetarist]] and [[Austrian Economist]] in orientation on the economy,<ref>{{cite book |last= Maybury|first=Richard|author-link= Richard J. Maybury|title= Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?|year=2004 |url= |location= |publisher= Bluestocking Press|page= 15|isbn=0-942617-52-5|edition= 5th}}</ref> and his monetary policy decisions largely followed standard [[Taylor rule]] prescriptions (see Taylor 1993 and 1999). Greenspan also played a key role in organizing the U.S. bailout of Mexico during the 1994–1995 [[Mexican peso crisis]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://conversationswithbillkristol.org/video/larry-summers/ |title=Larry Summers on Conversations with Bill Kristol |website=Conversations with Bill Kristol |access-date=September 9, 2019}}</ref>

In 2000, Greenspan raised interest rates several times; these actions were believed by many to have caused the bursting of the [[dot-com bubble]]. According to [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences|Nobel laureate]] [[Paul Krugman]], however, "he didn't raise interest rates to curb the market's enthusiasm; he didn't even seek to impose margin requirements on stock market investors. Instead, he waited until the bubble burst, as it did in 2000, then tried to clean up the mess afterward".<ref>{{cite book |first=Paul |last=Krugman |author-link=Paul Krugman |title=The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 |url=https://archive.org/details/returnofdepressi00krug |url-access=registration |publisher=W.W. Norton |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-393-33780-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/returnofdepressi00krug/page/142 142]}}</ref> E. Ray Canterbery agrees with Krugman's criticism.<ref>{{cite book |first=E. Ray |last=Canterbery |title=The Global Great Recession |publisher=World Scientific |year=2013 |isbn=978-981-4322-76-8 |pages=123–135}}</ref>

In January 2001, Greenspan, in support of President Bush's proposed tax decrease, stated that the federal surplus could accommodate a significant tax cut while paying down the national debt.<ref>{{cite news |first=Richard W. |last=Stevenson |work=The New York Times |title=Down Into the Fray |date=January 27, 2001 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/27/business/down-into-the-fray.html |access-date=January 7, 2013}}</ref>

In autumn 2001, as a decisive reaction to the [[September 11 attacks]] and various corporate scandals which undermined the economy, the Greenspan-led Federal Reserve initiated a series of interest cuts that brought down the [[federal funds rate]] to 1% in 2004. While presenting the [[Monetary Policy Report to the Congress|Federal Reserve's Monetary Policy Report]] in July 2002, he said that "It is not that humans have become any more greedy than in generations past. It is that the avenues to express greed had grown so enormously", and suggested that financial markets need to be more regulated.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/hh/2002/july/testimony.htm |title=Testimony of Chairman Alan Greenspan |publisher= Federal Reserve Board | date=July 16, 2002 | access-date=July 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607103641/http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/hh/2002/july/testimony.htm |archive-date=June 7, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> His critics, led by [[Steve Forbes]], attributed the rapid rise in [[commodity]] prices and [[Gold as an investment|gold]] to Greenspan's loose monetary policy, which Forbes believed had caused excessive asset inflation and a weak dollar. By late 2004, the price of gold was higher than its 12-year moving average.

Greenspan advised senior members of the George W. Bush administration to depose [[Saddam Hussein]] for the sake of the oil markets.<ref name="The Wall Street Journal">{{cite news |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2007/09/17/qa-greenspan-on-bubbles-saddam-cheney-and-bernanke/ |title=Q&A: Greenspan on Bubbles, Saddam, Cheney and Bernanke |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=September 17, 2007 |access-date=June 13, 2016}}</ref> He believed that even a moderate disruption to the flow of oil could translate into high oil prices,<ref name="The Washington Post">{{cite news |url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/16/AR2007091601287.html |title = Greenspan: Ouster Of Hussein Crucial For Oil Security|first1= Bob |last1=Woodward|newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 17, 2007 |access-date= June 8, 2016}}</ref> which could lead to "chaos" in the global economy and bring the industrial world "to its knees".<ref name="Guardian US">{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Richard |title=Invasion of Iraq was driven by oil, says Greenspan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/sep/17/iraq.oil |access-date=June 14, 2022 |work=Guardian US |publisher=Scott Trust Limited |date=September 16, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901002625/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/sep/17/iraq.oil |archive-date=September 1, 2013 |location=New York |quote=Mr Greenspan said it was clear to him that Saddam Hussein had wanted to control the Straits of Hormuz and so control Middle East oil shipments through the vital route out of the Gulf. He said that had Saddam been able to do that it would have been "devastating to the west"}}</ref><ref name="The Irish Times">{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/greenspan-says-invasion-and-war-largely-about-oil-1.962612 |title=Greenspan Says Invasion and War 'Largely about Oil' |last  = Adams    |   first  = Richard |agency = Guardian Services
            |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=September 17, 2007 | archive-url  =  https://web.archive.org/web/20160625163129/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/greenspan-says-invasion-and-war-largely-about-oil-1.962612  | archive-date  = June 25, 2016 |access-date= June 14, 2022}}</ref> He feared that Saddam could seize control of the Straits of Hormuz and restrict the transport of oil through them. In a 2007 interview, he said, "people do not realize in this country, for example, how tenuous our ties to international energy are. That is, we on a daily basis require continuous flow. If that flow is shut off, it causes catastrophic effects in the industrial world. And it's that which made him [Saddam] far more important to get out than bin Laden."<ref name="The Huffington Post">{{cite news |url=http://new.www.huffingtonpost.com/david-fiderer/the-simple-arithmetic-of_b_100021.html |title=The Simple Arithmetic of John McCain's Bogus Claims of Energy Independence|work=The Huffington Post |date=May 5, 2008 | archive-url  =  https://web.archive.org/web/20160914234852/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-fiderer/the-simple-arithmetic-of_b_100021.html       |  archive-date =  September 14, 2016 |format = Blog     |last  =  Fiderer   |  first = David   |   quote = My friends, I will have an energy policy that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East |access-date=June 14, 2022}}</ref>

On May 18, 2004, Greenspan was nominated by President [[George W. Bush]] to serve for an unprecedented fifth term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. He was previously appointed to the post by Presidents Reagan, George H.&nbsp;W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.

In a May 2005 speech, Greenspan stated: "Two years ago at this conference I argued that the growing array of [[Derivative (finance)|derivatives]] and the related application of more-sophisticated methods for measuring and managing risks had been key factors underlying the remarkable resilience of the banking system, which had recently shrugged off severe shocks to the economy and the financial system. At the same time, I indicated some concerns about the risks associated with derivatives, including the risks posed by concentration in certain derivatives markets, notably the [[Over-the-counter (finance)|over-the-counter]] (OTC) markets for U.S. dollar interest rate options."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2005/20050505/default.htm |title=Risk Transfer and Financial Stability |  format =Remarks to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's Forty-first Annual Conference on Bank Structure via satellite  | location = Washington DC |last = Greenspan   |  first = Alan    |publisher= Federal Reserve Board|  date=May 5, 2005 |access-date=May 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530104529/http://federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2005/20050505/default.htm |archive-date=May 30, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Greenspan opposed [[China–United States relations#Economic relations|tariffs against the People's Republic of China]] for its refusal to [[Renminbi currency value|let the yuan rise]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/greenspan-warns-against-anti-china-protectionism |title=Greenspan Warns Against Anti-China Protectionism | agency = Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report. |work=[[Fox News]] |date=June 23, 2005 |access-date=January 7, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140118142631/http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/06/23/greenspan-warns-against-anti-china-protectionism/ | location = Washington DC |archive-date=January 18, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> suggesting instead that any American workers displaced by [[Chinese trade]] could be compensated through unemployment insurance and retraining programs.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aJPievhWVrmY |title=Greenspan Says Tariffs on China Would Hurt U.S. Economy, Jobs | first1 =Craig | last1 =Torres | author-link =Craig Torres |first2=Alison |last2=Kodjak|author2-link=Alison Kodjak |work=[[Bloomberg News]] |date=June 23, 2005 |access-date=January 7, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107234243/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aJPievhWVrmY |archive-date=January 7, 2014}}</ref>

Greenspan's term as a member of the board ended on January 31, 2006, and [[Ben Bernanke]] was confirmed as his successor.

As chairman of the board, Greenspan did not give any broadcast interviews from 1987 through 2005.<ref name="Davies">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4562488.stm |work=BBC News |title=Deficits Could Harm Greenspan's Legacy |last=Davies |first=Sir Howard |author-link=Howard Davies (economist) |date=December 29, 2005 |access-date=May 17, 2011}}</ref>

===After the Federal Reserve===
Immediately after leaving the Fed, Greenspan formed an [[economic consulting]] firm, Greenspan Associates LLC.<ref name= "Unconcerned">{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/06/AR2006110600588.html |first=Nell |last=Henderson |title=Greenspan Unconcerned About Housing |newspaper= The Washington Post |date=November 7, 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080808114519/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/06/AR2006110600588.html        |     archive-date = August 8, 2008 | access-date= June 14, 2022}}</ref> He also accepted an honorary (unpaid) position at [[HM Treasury]] in the United Kingdom.

On February 26, 2007, Greenspan forecast a possible [[recession]] in the United States before or in early 2008.<ref>{{cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |title=Greenspan Warns of U.S. Recession Risk |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna17343814 |work=NBC News |date=February 26, 2007 |access-date=October 17, 2008}}</ref> Stabilizing corporate profits are said to have influenced his comments. The following day, the [[Dow Jones Industrial Average]] decreased by 416 points, losing 3.3% of its value.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://money.cnn.com/2007/02/27/markets/markets_0405/index.htm | work=CNN | first=Alexandra | last=Twin | title=Brutal day on Wall Street | date=February 27, 2007}}</ref>

In May 2007, Greenspan was hired as a special consultant by [[Pacific Investment Management Company]] (PIMCO) to participate in their quarterly economic forums and speak privately with the bond managers about Fed interest rate policy.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN1546703720070516 |title =Pimco Hires Greenspan as Consultant: Report |work=Reuters |date=May 16, 2007 |access-date=June 22, 2009}}</ref>

In August 2007, [[Deutsche Bank]] announced that it would be retaining Greenspan as a senior advisor to its [[investment banking]] team and clients.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Alan Greeenspan to consult for Deutsche Bank Corporate and Investment Bank |publisher=[[Deutsche Bank]] |date=August 13, 2007 |url=http://www.db.com/presse/en/content/press_releases_2007_3606.htm |access-date=October 17, 2008}}</ref>

In mid-January 2008, [[hedge fund]] [[Paulson & Co.]] hired Greenspan as an adviser. According to the terms of their agreement, he was not to advise any other hedge fund while working for Paulson. In 2007, Paulson had foreseen the collapse of the sub-prime housing market and hired [[Goldman Sachs]] to package their sub-prime holdings into derivatives and sell them. Some economic commentators blamed this collapse on Greenspan's policies while at the Fed.<ref>{{cite news |last=Willard |first=Cody |date=April 16, 2010 |url=http://blogs.marketwatch.com/cody/2010/04/16/tangled-webs-greenspan-paulson-goldman-the-sec-and-cc-music-factory/ |publisher=Marketwatch.com |title=Tangled Webs: Greenspan, Paulson, Goldman, the SEC and C&C Music Factory |access-date=January 15, 2011 |archive-date=July 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714035248/http://blogs.marketwatch.com/cody/2010/04/16/tangled-webs-greenspan-paulson-goldman-the-sec-and-cc-music-factory/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=telegraph>{{cite news |last=Monaghan |first=Angela |url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/2782593/Greenspan-joins-hedge-fund-Paulson.html |title=Greenspan joins hedge fund Paulson |work=Daily Telegraph |date=January 15, 2008 |access-date=June 22, 2009 |location=London}}</ref>

On April 30, 2009, Greenspan offered a defense of the [[H-1B visa]] program, telling a U.S. Senate subcommittee that the visa quota is "far too small to meet the need" and saying that it protects U.S. workers from global competition, creating a "privileged elite". Testifying on immigration reform before the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship, he said more skilled immigration was needed "as the economy copes with the forthcoming retirement wave of skilled baby boomers".<ref>{{cite news |title=Greenspan: H-1B Cap Would Make U.S. Workers 'Privileged Elite{{'-}} |url=http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9132438/Greenspan_H_1B_cap_would_make_U.S._workers_privileged_elite_ |date=April 30, 2009|first=Patrick |last=Thibodeau |work=[[Computerworld]] |access-date=April 16, 2011}}</ref>

===Memoir===
Greenspan wrote a memoir titled ''[[The Age of Turbulence|The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World]]'', published September 17, 2007.{{Sfn|Mallaby|2016|p=654}} Greenspan says that he wrote the book in longhand mostly while soaking in the bathtub, a habit he regularly employs since injuring his back in 1971.{{Sfn|Greenspan|2007|p=73}} Greenspan discusses in his book, among other things, his history in government and economics, capitalism and other economic systems, current issues in the global economy, and future issues that face the global economy. In the book, Greenspan criticizes President George W. Bush, Vice President [[Dick Cheney]], and the Republican-controlled Congress for abandoning the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]'s principles on spending and deficits. Greenspan's criticisms of President Bush include his refusal to veto spending bills, sending the country into increasingly deep deficits, and for "putting political imperatives ahead of sound economic policies".<ref name="TurbReuters">{{cite news |url = https://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUKN1420623220070915 |title = Greenspan Criticizes Bush Policies in Memoir |first=Mark |last=Felsenthal |work=Reuters |date=September 15, 2007 |access-date= November 9, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012194036/https://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUKN1420623220070915 |archive-date=October 12, 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> Greenspan writes, "They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose [the [[United States elections, 2006|2006 election]]]".<ref name="TurbUSAToday">{{cite news| url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/books/2007-09-17-greenspan-cover_N.htm |title=Greenspan takes center stage in 'Age of Turbulence' |first=Barbara |last=Hagenbaugh |work=USA Today |date=September 17, 2007 |access-date=November 9, 2007}}</ref><ref name="TurbWSJ">{{cite news |first1=Greg |last1=Ip |first2=Emily |last2=Steel |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118978549183327730 |title=Greenspan Book Criticizes Bush And Republicans |work=Wall Street Journal |date=September 15, 2007 |page=A1}}</ref> He praised Bill Clinton above all the other presidents for whom he'd worked for his "consistent, disciplined focus on long-term economic growth".<ref name="GreenAttacks">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/15/business/15greenspan.html |title= Former Fed Chief Attacks Bush on Fiscal Role |first1= Edmund L. |last1=Andrews |first2=David E. |last2=Sanger |work=The New York Times |date=September 15, 2007 |access-date=November 8, 2007 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref> Although he respected what he saw as [[Richard Nixon]]'s immense intelligence, Greenspan found him to be "sadly paranoid, misanthropic and cynical". He said of [[Gerald Ford]] that he "was as close to normal as you get in a president, but he was never elected".<ref name="TurbWSJ" /> Regarding future U.S. economic policy, Greenspan recommends improving the U.S. primary and secondary education systems. He asserts this would narrow the inequality between the minority of high-income earners and most workers whose wages have not grown in proportion with [[globalization]] and the nation's GDP growth.{{Sfn|Greenspan|2007|pp=392–408}}