History's Greatest (Worst) Fed Chairman

The broader public is beginning to get a glimpse into the checkered legacy of Alan Greenspan. This is a pretty good article exploring why he is a central figure, perhaps the central figure in the financial disaster we have on our hands. My favorite part:

“Aren’t you concerned with such a growing concentration of wealth that if one of these huge institutions fails that it will have a horrendous impact on the national and global economy?” asked Representative Bernard Sanders, an independent from Vermont.

“No, I’m not,” Mr. Greenspan replied. “I believe that the general growth in large institutions have occurred in the context of an underlying structure of markets in which many of the larger risks are dramatically — I should say, fully — hedged.”

Nice call there Mr. Greenspan.