| I know it's merely coincidental, but I can't ignore the irony that Alan Greenspan will be taking a permanent hike from the Fed after delivering a final rate hike, on the same day that President Bush is delivering his State of the Union address.
After all, in some ways the Fed chairman winds up wielding more sway over the economy than the president. Despite the troubles in Iraq, President Bush's success and failure will probably most come down to the economy, stupid, as his predecessor's handlers liked to say. It was Greenspan who brought rates down to their lowest level since World War II on the heels of the terrorist attacks and amid a recession. This set the stage for the current economic recovery, albeit a choppy one. And although President Reagan receives a lot of credit for the strong economy during the 1980s, it was Fed Chairman Paul Volcker's draconian tightening measures in the late 1970s that created the possibility for economic growth and the boom in financial assets.
So, hopefully tonight President Bush will acknowledge how much Greenspan has made him look good on the domestic front. |
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