Alan Greenspan: An interview with the Maestro of Libertarianism

With its charts, graphs, and vertiginous dives into the busts and booms of U.S. history, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspans latest book tries to assess how no one not even the Maestro himself could predict the Great Recession.

But The Map and the Territory offers everything dismal science fans could ask for. Except, maybe, an apology.

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Since his book was released earlier this month, Mr. Greenspan has also taken some criticism for not being aggressive enough in taking on the growing economic threat. But as he argues, that wobbly foundation underneath the housing bubble was laid before he took over chairmanship of the Federal Reserve in 1987.

Moreover, the Fed doesnt police miscreants of the financial sector.

If that sounds like a deflection, the 87-year-old Maestro of Libertarianism shows remarkable philosophical flexibility. Contrary to what he believed earlier, this Ayn Rand admirer isnt so sure that bankers can act in their own self-interest without doing harm to others.

Although he has great faith in self-regulation, he is calling for much higher capital requirements from banks.

A critic of John Maynard Keynes, Mr. Greenspan now believes that behavioural psychology should play a key role in predicting markets. And troubled by the growing obligations of entitlements, the prophet of Boom sounds a little more like the Oracle of Doom.

Mr. Greenspan spoke with The Globe and Mail on Monday about public opinion of him since the financial crisis of 2008.

You sound surprised that Americans are demanding contrition from you. If not you, where should they redirect their frustrations?

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Alan Greenspan: An interview with the Maestro of Libertarianism