Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan is in the hot seat, after newly released Fed transcripts sparked accusations that he tried to hide evidence of a looming housing crash from the public. At a March 2004 meeting, numerous members of the board voiced concerns that a housing bubble was developing (in fact, one was), but Greenspan seemed — in the interpretation of some commentators, anyway — to favor stifling such arguments so as not to "lose control of a process that only we fully understand." Are Greenspan's cryptic words proof that he is more culpable for the bubble than previously thought?
Greenspan's conduct is disturbing: "Hoo boy," says Paul Krugman in The New York Times. Not only did Federal Reserve policy makers disregard staff reports "seriously suggesting a housing bubble," Greenspan "wanted no hint of the discussion made public." That's "seriously disturbing."
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