Greenspan is responsible for the rapid decline of the purchasing power of the US$. He is stealing for what I have worked for in the past! Because the $ and gold are inversely related to each other I think it's O.K. to use gold as an indicator for the worthlessness of Mr. Easy Al Greenspan.
Anything used by everyone to transact will automatically have some imbedded value IMO. A question that a more introspective person might ask is, what makes $1 of gold more valuable than $1 of any other metal? Or $1 of ownership in a company? Or $1 which has to be repaid to you at some point in the future with interest? Or $1 of food? I assume that at some point there were properties of the metal (maleability and conductivity) that made it attractive to own. It may still be superior to other metals in this regard (I'm really not sure one way or the other), but I have trouble beileving that it deserves the hype it is recieving now, and I think people tend to push demand for it up past what it should be because of silly historical correlations that probably won't exist if the situations they are claiming will occur, (hyperinflation, bank failures, mass chaos, Britney Spears putting out a new album etc...) actually occur.
With an inverted yield curve it's difficult making an "easy credit" argument. Are you 100% in cash? Have you NO assets other than cash? And further, what makes you believe gold and the dollar are inversely correlated? In 2005 the dollar index rose about 13% and gold also rose. By about 20%. Hardly an inverse move!
This was supposed to be about the Master and it turned into a gold discussion. Gold will fall back to $500 before it gets to $600.
The wealth was created by the private sector, Greenspan did the overseeing. Well, if you didn't want this credit bubble or whatever, you'd be in a DEEP recession now. Flexibility is good. Greenspan could've tightened during 10/19/1987... and ruined everyone . Anyways, what's wrong with a devalued dollar? It'll appreciate sooner or later.... If you really want to blame someone for the housing bubble(whose existence I doubt for now), blame the commercial banks that lend like hell and will have real estate worth nothing later on when these people are forced into foreclosure. I doubt Greenspan could do much to prevent that.
Greenspan has been worse and more damaging to the United States than Osama Bin Laden. Hopefully the departure of this overrated troll will add more power to this rising bull market.
I don't understand the defense of Greenspan, nor do I understand the idea that he somehow created wealth in the U.S. The only thing Greenspan is directly responsible for are short-term rates, and that's exactly what he mismanaged. Taking short-term rates down from 6% in late 2000 to 0.8% in 2003 was way too far, too fast. It ignited a massive debt bubble -- mortgage debt, corporate debt, and got Americans out of the habit of saving. The 'wealth' created by the real estate boom is largely a mirage for many people. Equity only translates to wealth if you can actually liquidate at the inflated price and your new dwelling costs less than what you just sold. I feel sorry for Bernanke -- he's gotta deal with Greenie's messes!