Washington post columnist Robert? Samuelson sneered: When he stepped down as chairman of the Federal Reserve in early 2006, Greenspan was also known as a "master of art", and people praised him for leading the United States through many economic difficulties; However, four years later, his previous policies were attacked unprecedentedly, and people accused him of brewing the 2007-2009 financial crisis. At the hearing held by the "Financial Crisis Investigation Committee" of the US Congress on 20 10, 84-year-old Greenspan was once again mercilessly questioned. The chairman of the Committee, Angelides, accused Greenspan and the Federal Reserve of failing to effectively supervise the problem credit as an important reason for the crisis, and they should bear historical responsibility for it. "You could have (stopped), you should have (stopped), but you didn't." Former California treasurer Angelis has a sharp tongue. The financial crisis was triggered by the American real estate bubble and the subsequent subprime mortgage crisis. The real estate bubble and subprime mortgage crisis are rooted in the low interest rate policy of the Federal Reserve and the excessive borrowing of American financial enterprises. As the governor of the U.S. central bank, which is highly anticipated by the outside world, Greenspan is obviously to blame. During his tenure at the Federal Reserve, Greenspan was famous for his vague "format words", but he changed his vague style and insisted that he was innocent when it came to external accusations. In his view, this crisis has many roots. First, the rise of emerging economies such as China has made the market cash abundant, leading to skyrocketing housing prices; Second, rating agencies underestimated the risk of mortgage investment, while Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two mortgage giants, intensified market speculation. As for the low interest rate of the Federal Reserve, Greenspan defended that it is impossible for regulators to completely avoid future crises. "The real estate market bubble is the most obvious global bubble for generations, which is triggered by low interest rates, but ... it is the price stimulated by long-term mortgage interest rates, not the overnight lending rate of the central bank". In Greenspan's view, market regulators are not superman. They can't predict most crises, even if they have a lot of evidence, they will miss some major frauds. Madoff is the evidence. In addition, Greenspan also believes that market regulators cannot completely prevent the crisis. Mark, chief economist of Moody's Economist Network? Zandi retorted that the Fed had enough power to control subprime loans and other problems, but Greenspan took a laissez-faire attitude. As for the low interest rate policy, it did end the American economic recession caused by the bursting of the internet bubble, but as the other side of the coin, this policy also led to the birth of a bigger American real estate bubble. "There is enough evidence that the interest rate of the Federal Reserve has remained too low for too long." At the hearing, he also lamented that during the 265,438+0 years of the Federal Reserve, he made a series of "bad mistakes", but overall, "only 30% mistakes". Greenspan hoped that history would open the door to him. However, in the face of an economic crisis that dragged the United States into the worst recession since the Great Depression, it may take considerable courage for Americans to give Greenspan a 70% correct rate. No wonder at the hearing, Brooksley Born, the former chairman of the US Futures Trading Commission, mercilessly questioned Greenspan's performance with a series of "failures" despite his advanced age. "The Fed has suffered a complete failure in preventing the financial crisis, the Fed and bank supervisors have failed in preventing the real estate bubble, they have failed in preventing the predatory loan scandal, and they have failed in preventing our big banks from falling into a business that would collapse without large-scale taxpayer assistance.