Alan Greenspan speech on 9/27/05 - US Economic Flexibility - and Analysis.

libertad · Oct 10, 2005

SouthAmerica...

Excellent Commentary

I have played a number of foreign currencies...only when there were severe immediate problems with successful results...

Like Templeton....I wait for there to be dire problems...when there are no problems ...no play...

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Brazil is a natural resource play to some degree..as is Russia....

India and China....their labor is where it is..and is besting the labor that is is the US in terms of costs per unit etc..
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TurkeyÂ´s play is almost over..now that the EU is in focus....

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In terms of the US dollar impacts....whose currency in your opinion would fare the best...and which currencies do you feel would fare the worst...?

Might we even see some Latin America currencies appreciate versus the dollar ?

Brazil is very interesting...

aPismoClam · Oct 10, 2005

who gives a rip about your "thoughts?"

SouthAmerica · Oct 12, 2005

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October 12, 2005

SouthAmerica: More "Flexibility BS" from Greenspan.

Associated Press
âGreenspan: Flexibility Crucial to Economyâ
Wednesday October 12, 2005
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer

Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan Says Flexibility Has Been Crucial to Economy's Good Performance

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The country's ability to weather a surge in energy prices is the latest example of how economic flexibility helps prevent serious recessions, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Wednesday.

Greenspan said an environment of maximum competition has been the driving force in spurring the type of flexibility that has allowed the country to withstand a number of shocks over the past two decades with only two mild recessions.

"The impressive performance of the U.S. economy over the past couple of decades, despite shocks that in the past would have produced marked economic contractions, offers the clearest evidence of the benefits of increased market flexibility," Greenspan said in remarks to the National Italian American Foundation.

Wall Street investors have given Greenspan credit for the economy's good performance during this time period for his skillful handling of a number of economic shocks, from the stock market crash of October 1987, just a few months after Greenspan took office, to the rate cuts he engineered during the height of the Asian currency crisis in 1998.

While Greenspan mentioned these events in his speech, he ascribed the economy's ability to avoid steep recessions to overall market flexibility rather than good policies at the Federal Reserve.

"Most recently, the flexibility of our market-driven economy has allowed us, thus far, to weather reasonably well the steep rise in spot and futures prices for oil and natural gas that we have experienced over the past two years," Greenspan said.

"Although the business cycle has not disappeared, flexibility has made the economy more resilient to shocks and more stable overall during the past couple of decades," he said.

Since Greenspan took office in August 1987, the U.S. economy has undergone only two mild recessions, one in 1990-91 when oil prices surged after Iraq invaded Kuwait and the most recent one in 2001 when the bursting of the stock market bubble helped push the country into a downturn.

As he did in a speech on the same topic on Sept. 27, Greenspan said it was important to understand that the long stretches of economic stability can create other problems.

"To be sure, that stability, by fostering speculative excesses, has created some new challenges for policy-makers," he said.

While Greenspan did not elaborate, he in recent months has been warning about risks borrowers could face after an extended period of extremely low interest rates. He has warned that some homeowners who used exotic interest-only loans to buy their homes could be in trouble as interest rates start rising.

Greenspan cautioned against government action to take away flexibility, such as by erecting barriers to protect U.S. industries and workers from global competition.

"Protectionism in all its guises, both domestic and international, does not contribute to the welfare of American workers," Greenspan said. "At best, it is a short-term fix at a cost of lower standards of living for the nation as a whole."

Instead, Greenspan argued that what the government should be providing is increased education and training for workers who lose their jobs because of foreign competition.

************

SouthAmerica: The talking heads on television, and the business analysts on radio talk shows usually like to translate for the rest of the population the innuendoes that Alan Greenspan includes on his speeches. Here is the translation of Greenspan's last word of the day: âFlexibilityâ

Alan Greenspan: The country's ability to weather a surge in energy prices is the latest example of how economic flexibility helps prevent serious recessions, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Wednesday.

SouthAmerica: The US borrows from China and pays for higher oil prices from OPEC countries and finances a wasteful war in Iraq. (These are productive ways to spend borrowed money)

Alan Greenspan: While Greenspan mentioned these events in his speech, he ascribed the economy's ability to avoid steep recessions to overall market flexibility rather than good policies at the Federal Reserve.

SouthAmerica: Here is what he means as good and sound âFlexibilityâ policies for American companies to adopt to be able to survive the greed of their executives and lack of innovation:

Here is the only way that American companies know how to make money today. They found out that the best strategy to cut costs is to file for bankruptcy, raid their pension fund moneys, eliminate health insurance benefit to workers, and merge with other companies to layoff workers and repeat this strategy all over again on this race to the bottom.

Alan Greenspan: "Although the business cycle has not disappeared, flexibility has made the economy more resilient to shocks and more stable overall during the past couple of decades," he said.

SouthAmerica: As long the Chinese are willing to finance the US government budget deficits in exchange for good paying American jobs.

Alan Greenspan: Greenspan cautioned against government action to take away flexibility, such as by erecting barriers to protect U.S. industries and workers from global competition.

SouthAmerica: The government should not protect the American worker, their pensions, and the middle class â the government should just put up a sign it is âOpen Seasonâ against the middle class in the United States.

Alan Greenspan: "Protectionism in all its guises, both domestic and international, does not contribute to the welfare of American workers," Greenspan said. "At best, it is a short-term fix at a cost of lower standards of living for the nation as a whole."

SouthAmerica: Translation: American workers will be much better of with their wages cut from $36 per hour to $10 per hour with no benefits.

The retirees will be better of dead since their promised benefits are all gone â it is hard to keep living with no money (pensions and very soon Social InSecurity) and no medical insurance including Medicaid and Medicare.

Alan Greenspan: Instead, Greenspan argued that what the government should be providing is increased education and training for workers who lose their jobs because of foreign competition.

SouthAmerica: The government should help training the American workers for them to be able to find work in the New America Economy - to be sharecroppers in the new American sharecropper society, and also teach them to be nursesâ aid and Americans will be able to find work in nursing homes making $ 6 per hour with no benefits. These are the best jobs Americans will be able to find in the future.

Alan Greenspan forgot to say that âFlexibilityâ really means: do not honor the promises that American companies made in the last 50 years to American workers regarding pension and health benefits. File for bankruptcy and dump your pension liabilities in the governmentâs lap. Cut the wages of American workers to the bone, and eliminate any other remaining benefits such as health insurance and so on...

When the US finally gets into a deep economic depression, start the game all over again.

.

Covertibility · Oct 12, 2005

Quote from southamerica:

.

October 12, 2005

SouthAmerica: More "Flexibility BS" from Greenspan.

Associated Press
âGreenspan: Flexibility Crucial to Economyâ
Wednesday October 12, 2005
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer

Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan Says Flexibility Has Been Crucial to Economy's Good Performance

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The country's ability to weather a surge in energy prices is the latest example of how economic flexibility helps prevent serious recessions, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Wednesday.

Greenspan said an environment of maximum competition has been the driving force in spurring the type of flexibility that has allowed the country to withstand a number of shocks over the past two decades with only two mild recessions.

"The impressive performance of the U.S. economy over the past couple of decades, despite shocks that in the past would have produced marked economic contractions, offers the clearest evidence of the benefits of increased market flexibility," Greenspan said in remarks to the National Italian American Foundation.

Wall Street investors have given Greenspan credit for the economy's good performance during this time period for his skillful handling of a number of economic shocks, from the stock market crash of October 1987, just a few months after Greenspan took office, to the rate cuts he engineered during the height of the Asian currency crisis in 1998.

While Greenspan mentioned these events in his speech, he ascribed the economy's ability to avoid steep recessions to overall market flexibility rather than good policies at the Federal Reserve.

"Most recently, the flexibility of our market-driven economy has allowed us, thus far, to weather reasonably well the steep rise in spot and futures prices for oil and natural gas that we have experienced over the past two years," Greenspan said.

"Although the business cycle has not disappeared, flexibility has made the economy more resilient to shocks and more stable overall during the past couple of decades," he said.

Since Greenspan took office in August 1987, the U.S. economy has undergone only two mild recessions, one in 1990-91 when oil prices surged after Iraq invaded Kuwait and the most recent one in 2001 when the bursting of the stock market bubble helped push the country into a downturn.

As he did in a speech on the same topic on Sept. 27, Greenspan said it was important to understand that the long stretches of economic stability can create other problems.

"To be sure, that stability, by fostering speculative excesses, has created some new challenges for policy-makers," he said.

While Greenspan did not elaborate, he in recent months has been warning about risks borrowers could face after an extended period of extremely low interest rates. He has warned that some homeowners who used exotic interest-only loans to buy their homes could be in trouble as interest rates start rising.

Greenspan cautioned against government action to take away flexibility, such as by erecting barriers to protect U.S. industries and workers from global competition.

"Protectionism in all its guises, both domestic and international, does not contribute to the welfare of American workers," Greenspan said. "At best, it is a short-term fix at a cost of lower standards of living for the nation as a whole."

Instead, Greenspan argued that what the government should be providing is increased education and training for workers who lose their jobs because of foreign competition.

************

SouthAmerica: The talking heads on television, and the business analysts on radio talk shows usually like to translate for the rest of the population the innuendoes that Alan Greenspan includes on his speeches. Here is the translation of Greenspan's last word of the day: âFlexibilityâ

Alan Greenspan: The country's ability to weather a surge in energy prices is the latest example of how economic flexibility helps prevent serious recessions, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Wednesday.

SouthAmerica: The US borrows from China and pays for higher oil prices from OPEC countries and finances a wasteful war in Iraq. (These are productive ways to spend borrowed money)

Alan Greenspan: While Greenspan mentioned these events in his speech, he ascribed the economy's ability to avoid steep recessions to overall market flexibility rather than good policies at the Federal Reserve.

SouthAmerica: Here is what he means as good and sound âFlexibilityâ policies for American companies to adopt to be able to survive the greed of their executives and lack of innovation:

Here is the only way that American companies know how to make money today. They found out that the best strategy to cut costs is to file for bankruptcy, raid their pension fund moneys, eliminate health insurance benefit to workers, and merge with other companies to layoff workers and repeat this strategy all over again on this race to the bottom.

Alan Greenspan: "Although the business cycle has not disappeared, flexibility has made the economy more resilient to shocks and more stable overall during the past couple of decades," he said.

SouthAmerica: As long the Chinese are willing to finance the US government budget deficits in exchange for good paying American jobs.

Alan Greenspan: Greenspan cautioned against government action to take away flexibility, such as by erecting barriers to protect U.S. industries and workers from global competition.

SouthAmerica: The government should not protect the American worker, their pensions, and the middle class â the government should just put up a sign it is âOpen Seasonâ against the middle class in the United States.

Alan Greenspan: "Protectionism in all its guises, both domestic and international, does not contribute to the welfare of American workers," Greenspan said. "At best, it is a short-term fix at a cost of lower standards of living for the nation as a whole."

SouthAmerica: Translation: American workers will be much better of with their wages cut from $36 per hour to $10 per hour with no benefits.

The retirees will be better of dead since their promised benefits are all gone â it is hard to keep living with no money (pensions and very soon Social InSecurity) and no medical insurance including Medicaid and Medicare.

Alan Greenspan: Instead, Greenspan argued that what the government should be providing is increased education and training for workers who lose their jobs because of foreign competition.

SouthAmerica: The government should help training the American workers for them to be able to find work in the New America Economy - to be sharecroppers in the new American sharecropper society, and also teach them to be nursesâ aid and Americans will be able to find work in nursing homes making $ 6 per hour with no benefits. These are the best jobs Americans will be able to find in the future.

Alan Greenspan forgot to say that âFlexibilityâ really means: do not honor the promises that American companies made in the last 50 years to American workers regarding pension and health benefits. File for bankruptcy and dump your pension liabilities in the governmentâs lap. Cut the wages of American workers to the bone, and eliminate any other remaining benefits such as health insurance and so on...

When the US finally gets into a deep economic depression, start the game all over again.

.
More...

lol. Excellant commentary (although I disagree about the notion that America borrows from China .. in a sense I'll agree its more like you said "As long the Chinese are willing to finance the US government budget deficits in exchange for good paying American jobs")

Covertibility · Oct 12, 2005

SouthAmerica · Oct 13, 2005

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SouthAmerica: Reply to Covertibility

I know that today they are renovating the office space of the Republican leadership in Washington, D.C. â The above picture is the new style of offices being prepared to accommodate the needs of the current leadership of the Republican Party:

1) Representative Tom DeLay (R - TX)

2) Republican presidential advisor Karl Rove

and

3) Current Majority Leader of Senate â Senator Bill Frist

I wonder how long it will take for them to renovate Vice President Dick Cheneyâs office as well â he also deserve this new type of office (one with no windows) that will become standard for the Republican politicians with close ties with the Bush administration.

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SouthAmerica · Apr 30, 2009

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April 30, 2009

SouthAmerica: Today Barack Obama mentioned the current state of affairs in Pakistan.

Finally after many years the United States started realizing that the major nuclear weapons threat around the world is in Pakistan.

Give a few years and eventually even Americans can grasp the obvious. I have no idea why it take so much time for Americans to connect the dots about a lot of things.

I have been writing for many years on this subject and I have been posting it on this website including on this thread and before I also posted similar information on the PBS and Charlie Rose Show forums.

*****

October 10, 2005

SouthAmerica: The United States makes a big deal all the time about North Korea and Iran developing Nuclear Weapons.

It does not bother me a bit that these two countries develops and built nuclear weapons.

The only country that worries me â and they already have nuclear weapons â it is Pakistan. If nuclear weapons can end up in the wrong hands I bet the weapons probably were made in Pakistan.

But in terms of one country using nuclear weapons against another country â I would say India would use it first against Pakistan than the other way around.

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