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Greenspan's Fraud: How Two Decades of His Policies Have Undermined the Global Economy

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     Despite its title, this is less a book about the "Maestro" Alan Greenspan (the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve System) than a review of the recent travails of the U.S. economy and the imbalances it has spawned at home and abroad by its plutocratic excesses. That Mr. G. is a privileged member of that plutocracy of wealth none would deny; he has after all been hailed as Chief Gnome of the Global Economy ever since the Stock Market Crash of 1987; but that he is also the chief architect of its manifold shenanigans and manifest frauds is a stretch, and a claim which Mr Batra can't make stick. Which is unfortunate because the U.S./global economy desperately needs a scapegoat right now!

Probably ALL of us know something about Mr Greenspan. He has been in the public eye as part of the politico-economic elite ever since President Ford appointed him Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors in 1974. He became Chairman of the Fed in 1987, in the wake of the great Paul Volcker, and quickly established himself as Savior of Global Financial Markets after his prompt and brilliantly successful response to the Crash of `87. (How ironic that his Fed career should also ends with a crash: the Millennial Meltdown of 2000-2002). To the rest of us, Greenspan is probably best known for what is sometimes called "Fed-speak," a contorted, convoluted, pretzel-logic kind of economese that passes all understanding. (It might more reasonably be called "GreenSPAM"!) These tidbits aside, however, few of us know much about Mr. G. or the Federal Reserve. And because Batra does not provide us with a coherent chronological account of his quarry's background and career, we are at a loss to know whether the barrage of accusations that he fires off in his first chapter (a long and disorganised anti-Greenspan screed) has any merit. This is a failing which dogs Batra's footsteps throughout the book.

Although his case against Greenspan (in Chapters 1 and 4) is not as rigorous as we might like, Batra's larger argument about the causes of the U.S. economic malaise since the early Seventies is excellent. Specifically, what he provides is a much needed neo-Keynesian "demand-side" response to the manifest idiocies of "supply-side" conservatism. In the late Seventies and early Eighties, "Supply-siders" (so called) claimed that high taxes on the wealthy were bad for savings, and hence, investment, and hence growth. Batra shows (Ch 7) that the era of highest taxation on the wealthy, the Fifties and Sixties, was also the era of highest growth! Go figure! Supply-siders also claimed that raising the minimum wage would cause higher unemployment. "Not so," says Batra, who skewers that self-serving myth in Chapter 8. But, you may say, how could the Supply-Siders have been so WRONG if they had the RIGHT recipe for balancing the budget? The answer, as Batra shows, was that the budget was NEVER balanced; it was merely kept under control. How? By increasing payroll taxes on working Americans, under the sleazy guise of "fixing Social Security". Throughout the Eighties and Nineties, despite their alleged ideological differences, both Democrats AND Republicans lined up to vote for reduced taxes on wealth and increased taxes on work. By claiming to "save" Social Security they increased worker deductions, and then used the additional Social Security funds to "balance" the general budget! And, as Batra's incendiary second chapter on the "Social Securiity Fraud" convincingly demonstrates, they did so by lying through their teeth to the American public. Because Greenspan was at the center of that disgraceful stab in the back, Batra holds him accountable for the entire scam. GreenSCAM! But, if you read Chapter Two, which on its own will more than repay your invrstment in this book, you'll realize that while the "Maestro" was the ringmaster, there was no shortage of cheerleaders and helpmates. And Democrats were no less spineless than their GOP counterparts.

To conclude: this book is not a good guide to Greenspan, the man or the mythical figure who has dominated the economic landscape for the past twenty years. But it is an EXCELLENT guide to the manifest ways in which the "new economy" has benefitted the rich and shafted the rest of us.

Ravi Batra is a Professor of Economics at SMU Dallas TX. This very readable book is partly about Greenspan's career in government, and politics, but mostly about the economic policies of the last three decades. Batra explains how the Federal Reserve has impoverished most Americans to enrich the wealthy, and attacked the middle class to benefit Big Business.

Chapter 1 tells the real impact of Alan Greenspan, how he unwittingly effected a global crash and spread economic misery (p.5). Greenspan's [...] swindled millions of families (p.6), while he benefited from his tax policies. Chapter 2, one of the most important, explains the [...] that was used to raise Social Security taxes in 1983 and then squander this money on tax cuts for the wealthy (p.12)! Greenspan's [...]was that he helped to raise payroll taxes, then sought to lower Social Security benefits (p.36). Chapter 3 discusses Greenspan's worship of "free profits" (p.48). Adam Smith was against mergers of competitors, and government regulation to restrict competition (p.50). The fallacy of Classical Economics is they could not account for depressions of falling output and rising unemployment (p.60). Batra explains the fallacy of "Supply Side Economics" (pp.68-70). Chapter 4 explains "Greenspan's Intellectual [...]" (p.74) as deceiving an audience by using fake or selective data for monetary gain. Greenspan saved the country from a Reagan Depression in 1987 by flooding the markets with liquidity (p.91). Afterwards he raised interest rates to regain this money and prevent inflation (p.92). Chapter 5 reports the global effects of Greenspan's policies. The 1981 tax cut led to soaring interest rates and a steep recession (p.123). Cutting the interest rate resulted in higher stock prices (p.136). The bubble of speculation inevitably burst (p.139).

Chapter 6 notes that economic theories can't explain the causes of a stock market bubble (p.141)! Batra says it is a mismatch between supply (productivity) and demand (wages and debt). When wages are high from productivity there is prosperity without a crash (p.143). Stagnant or falling wages create unemployment (p.146). Expansionary fiscal policies create a debt that comes due (pp.147-148). Regressive taxation and low wages create a global crisis. Chapter 7 explains how the income tax rate affects our standard of living. Reagan's tax cuts created a giant budget deficit and high interest rates (p.169). Clinton's raised income tax rates was followed by relative prosperity. Bush lowered the top income tax rate, which always hurts the economy and stunts economic growth (p.173). Chapter 8 documents another of Greenspan's [...], the claim that minimum wages create unemployment. This lie has been proven wrong since 1935. Greenspan wants increased immigration to keep wages down (p.191)! High money growth causes inflation (p.192).

Chapter 9 discusses the trade deficit, which could cause the budget deficit (p.199). A country that exports goods has a trade surplus, one that exports services or farm products has deficits (p.204). Prosperity comes from manufacturing (p.205). Regressive taxation has forced a gap between wages and productivity (p.214). A regressive value-added tax makes it worse. The merger mania results from a lack of competition and the desire for monopoly control of output. Chapter 10 tells how Greenspan's policies changed but still aimed at the economic destruction of the middle class (p.217). Most Americans have seen a drop in their living standards since 1973 (p.219). Regressive taxes, higher health insurance, and lowered pensions make it worse (p.220). The effect is rising bankruptcies, mushrooming debt, and a drastic decline in the household savings rate (p.221). Countries with ultra-regressive taxes like VAT (value-added taxes) experience the same slow growth and higher unemployment (p.229).

Chapter 11 lists the needed economic reforms. Batra lists the top-ten problems that need fixing (p.236). Returning Social Security to a pay-as-you-go system will benefit the economy (p.240). An ethical economic policy benefits all of us, an unethical economic policy creates massive debt and increasing poverty (pp.244-245). Batra lists 6 reforms for wages and taxes to bring back prosperity (p.247). A separate export exchange rate will benefit manufacturing (p.251). Reducing the wage gap will reduce recessions, inflation, and poverty (p.253). The long-run cure for economic imbalance is economic democracy (p.255). [But his proposals seem to idealistic, and lack the checks and balances needed in the real world. Batra does not mention that these regressive policies came about after Nixon's devaluation of the US dollar in 1971.]

I don't see what all the fuss is from these negative reviewers who badly want to defend Greenspan's corporatization policies and support thereof which have resulted in more corporate dictatorships and poverty both here at home in the U.S. and around the world. Batra has coherently presented a book which links our current fascist anti-working class government to Greenspan and the corporate crony robber barrons on Wall Street. If you are sick and tired of the corporate fascism which has pervaded the U.S. like cancer for the past 25 years thanks to Greenspan, Reagan, Clinton, Bush I and II, and most Republicans and Democrats, this book is for you.

Pick a day of the week a throw a dart. That seems to be what decides whether Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan will tell us we are headed for disaster or doing fabulously on any given day. It has reached the point where it is not just fence straddling, but truly troublesome psychosis. And it has been going on for a while now. Look at this from last year. First, from May 6, 2004 comments to a banking conference: "Our fiscal prospects are, in my judgment, a significant obstacle to long-term stability because the budget deficit is not readily subject to correction by market forces that stabilize other imbalances." Then a few months later to the House Budget Committee: "The most recent data suggest that, on the whole, the expansion has regained some traction." One day he is pointing out that there is an "inverted yield curve," a little thing that precedes every recession and never appears except when there is a recession about to occur, and the next he is saying the economy is wonderful - even in the face of all obvious evidence to the contrary, such as seen in this Washington Post quote typical of the situation: "Greenspan was upbeat about the economy in remarks to the House Budget Committee, and did not suggest there would be any major changes in the Fed's monetary policy, which was a welcome relief to rate-wary investors. But the short-term cheer over his comments was not enough to allay the market's deeper concerns." The problem, though, is not Greenspan himself but something we see play out on a much, much larger scale, and which has the entire nation confused about the current state of the economy, which is actually very simple to explain. You see, it is the job of the entire investment firm profession to get you to buy stocks and bonds. And economists serve these people, and tend to be Republicans. The reality is that Greenspan and others understand the second part of the above Washington Post quote, that there are permanent "deeper concerns" due to the policies implemented by President Bush and the Bush/Limbaugh Republicans. The deficit is real, the declining dollar is real, that the lack of pensions are real, that record number of personal bankruptcies are occurring each year.. So why does the reporting and commenting go back and forth so much? Because they have to say something and to try and say something positive. They sit and wait on this and that report and then are supposed to make some comment based on these snapshots. If they were simply to continue to focus on the big picture, they would have nothing new or interesting - or very positive - to say. How many times can you write, "You can't keep running up the nation's credit cards like this?" How many times can you point out that the tax cuts were not targeted in any way toward job creation - they simply handed money to wealthy people without any incentives linked to increased hiring or any other mechanism of job creation. Lots of money was handed directly to companies, and so their profits increased. That would be nice except for one catch: it was money we didn't have to give. The cheerful reporting of the sudden increase of cash among companies is the eqivalent of going out and buying a new truck and 42-inch TV on your credit card and then coming home and saying, "See how well we are doing, honey, we have all sorts of nice new stuff." The reality in that case would be that, no, things around the household haven't improved, just someone in the household made a stupid decision to run up all sorts of debt that has to be paid down at some point. We hear talk now about foreign investors getting leery of floating our endless bonds. And we hear about the inverted yield curve - the surest sign of a coming recession, when short-term interest rates are, unlike normal, higher than long-term interest rates. You have to take this all a step further, though, because this is just the government aspect of things. Though the press likes to report useless, skewed month to month "unemployment" numbers, the reality is that these numbers only include people still receiving unemployment compensation benefits. Those who have exhausted all of their benefits and are still unable to find work are called, "long-term unemployed." The number of people in this group tells the real story of unemployment, of people permanently put in the worst of financial situations. And as reality has it, the last two years has seen record numbers of long-term unemployed. On top of that, the trend that started during the Clinton years of record personal bankruptcies continues. And the trade deficit continues to set new records. So on the one hand you have a government completely broke, setting deficit borrowing records every year. And on the other, you have the American people completely overspent, credit cards run to the max and many stuck long-term without any employment. And then you have a Baby Boomer group that will be retiring many without pensions, only with dot-com-crash-battered 401K's to depend on. Lady's and gentlemen, the math doesn't add up. The only thing the Bush/Limbaughians have to try and keep things from seeming the disaster they are is their complete domination of the media - of course, as we've explained, this is why they've set up 24 hour-a-day propaganda on all media, to convince the people that things that are horrible for them are actually just fine. You can look at this report or that number, but the "conundrum" Alan Greenspan keeps coming back to is simple: How can he continue to try to say anything positive when the obvious, big-picture context of the economy is horrible and only being exacerbated by current policies? And so you see poor Alan looking like a deranged monkey on acid, saying we have a recovery, things look good, and then, just a few days later, we have a real problem, the deficits and inverted yield curve cannot be ignored.

More benefits to business cronyism and libertarian destruction of America. The media has always made it look as if Greenspan has and is always the economy's best savior even when it's never so. Maybe Greenspan could take some time off and visit hard hit areas such as my state of Michigan where his libertarian leaning policies or endorsement of them have turned my state into a nearly irreversable rust belt state like many other. Ravi Batra has the courage and confidence to break a window in Greenspan's fraud and you can expect that neoconservatives and libertarians along with their media cronies will be desperate in their criticism of this book at all costs. Read this book and flick Greenspan OFF !

I have been a fan of Dr. Batra's work for many years, since the Dow-Jones meltdown in 1987. By following his advice and considering his economic arguments carefully, I have managed to avoid all of the financial pitfalls that have wrecked havoc with the nest eggs of many of my fellow Americans. Dr. Batra carefully and clearly deconstructs the myths of supply-side economics to show why it doesn't work and always leads to economic meltdowns. Dr. Batra is able to make accurate predictions about future economic, social and political events because he views economic cycles in conjunction with historical cycles. In Greenspan's Fraud, Dr. Batra discusses Alan Greenspan's family and educational background and delves into his relationship with Ayn Rand, who had a profound effect on him. He also discusses Greenspan's relationship with Milton Friedman , founder of the Chicago School of Economics, who was instrumental in shaping Greenspan's world view. The book, simply put, punctures the image of Greenspan as the Oracle, or the Maestro, to show him for what he really is--a self-serving opportunist.

This is probably the best book I have read on economics. The authors really simplifies macroeconomics in laymen's terms. I would recommend this to everyone who want to understand why american economy is so weak and will continue to be so unless fundamental changes happen.

Batra correctly points out that Greenspan is responsible for mishandling monetary policy by continually bailing out the Wall Street investment banking houses,as well as their all to willing commercial bank accomplices following the 1999 repeal of the Glass -Steagall Act, that have been primarily responsible for converting America from an entrepreneurial-enterprise-investment economy to a speculator economy based on manipulating the financial assets and balance sheets of American corporations in order to generate paper profits without production .The result has been that 3 stock market bubbles have been created-one in the 1980's,one in the 1990's,and one in the 2000's.This last bubble is potentially the most dangerous.It has significant similarities with the Great Depression of the 1930's and the Japanese Depression of 1994-2003.

The real question then becomes how responsible was Greenspan ? Batra glosses over the fact that there are three other regulatory players involved besides the Federal Reserve System's Federal Open Market Committee(FOMC),a quasi private,quasi public agency that controls monetary policy.The other 3 regulatory agencies are the Comptroller of the Currency,the Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC),and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation(Federal Savings and Loans Insurance Corporation).All of these agencies have failed to enforce basic loan and creditworthiness standards and requirements.Probably the greatest blame can be assigned to the various chairmen of the SEC after Bill Casey.They have all failed egregiously by failing to protect Main Street from the Wall Street bubble makers.None of these bubbles would have had a chance to get going if Casey were still running the SEC.Greenspan can be assigned no more than 25% of the blame. Batra's other criticisms,such as Greenspan's statements on Social Security and its future prospects as the Baby Boomers retire,is not really relevant since Greenspan had no explicit policy making power in this area.

Many people think that Alan Greenspan is the savior of the American economy. It's clear when you read this book that this is not the case. The reality that Batra lays out (often using Greenspan's own words) is often chilling and is timed perfectly with the recent spate of criticism of the Fed Chairman. What is really true is that Greenspan is an idealogue with an agenda aimed at helping big business. Batra presents an even-handed analysis that will make you think twice about any future pronouncements Greenspan makes about Social Security reform.

For all the years that Greenspan has enjoyed his power and riches, not to mention his wife Andrea Mitchell being a political analyst on MSNBC and a speechwriter for Bush, not once has Greenspan ever addressed rural America, much of which has even undergone DEPOPULATION as a result of Greenspan's influence along with the politicians ! Sure, we've had terrible feds of the chairman in the past but at least they were honest and not unrealistic. Unlike some politically conservative reviewers who are scared and thus trying to smear the author, I have news for everyone in rural America who either doesn't know Alan Greenspan or who has been brainwashed into worshipping him as the savior of the economy by the economic libertarians up in D.C., be it Wall Street, the righwing thinktanks, or even our disgraceful politicians in both political parties that have caved in to special corporate interests. If it were not for the once sturdy rural areas full of small businesses, mom and pop stores, and the like, big business and Wall Street would never be enjoying the unlimited power with Greenspan as one of its puppets. Greenspan knows what he has been and still is doing and he knows that it's wrong even though he'll try to pretend he's confused by making wishy washy statements one day this or another day that about the economy. Read this book and learn to mistrust anything Greenspan says and help America tear down the corrupt business wall that has ruined this country and is currently trying to ruin other countries in the process !