Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, whose legacy has been tarnished by the global financial crisis, on Thursday laid out a scholarly defense of why Fed policy did not fuel the housing bubble.

Greenspan did offer somewhat of a mea culpa, though, noting that the regulatory system failed by not demanding financial firms hold much larger capital buffers.

Greenspan, who led the U.S. central bank from 1987 to 2006, has been criticized by some analysts who argue he kept short-term, benchmark interest rates too low for too long in the early 2000s.

The former Fed chief defended the central bank’s actions, saying that the seeds of the housing boom were sown by geopolitical events that were out of the Fed’s control, an argument he has presented a number of times in the past.

Read More: – Moneynews

Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, said yesterday that it is “very difficult’’ to envision the unemployment rate falling soon and that an economic recovery is “going to be a slow, trudging thing.’’

He also expressed concern about falling stock prices.

While the recession is “essentially over,’’ he said, “it’s very difficult to make the case that unemployment is coming down any time soon.’’ He spoke on NBC’s “Meet the Press’’ program.’

Read More: – Bloomberg News

The United States may need to tighten credit and raise taxes to get the economy out of the worst recession since the 1930s, says former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan.
The budget deficit for 2009 should widen to $1.6 trillion, according to government data, while the Federal Reserve has doubled its balance sheet to $2.2 trillion in a year.
It will take tighter credit and tax hikes to cover those deficit-producing spending increases.

Read More: –Forrest Jones

Tighter credit and higher taxes are the only ways to fix our still struggling and debt-ridden economy, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan tells Bloomberg News.”The presumption that we’re going to be able to resolve this without significant increases in taxes is unrealistic,” he said.Greenspan also foresees Congress enacting some form of consumption tax to help reduce the deficit.

Read More: -Marc Davis

WASHINGTON — Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan predicted on Sunday that the jobless rate will pass 10 percent and stay there for a while, and a second stimulus plan is not needed now.

He spoke favorably of extending unemployment benefits and tax credits for health insurance, options the Obama administration is considering for helping people laid off during the recession. With more than 15 million people out of work, unemployment reached 9.8 percent in September, the highest rate in 26 years.

“This is an extraordinary period and temporary actions must be taken, especially to assuage the angst of a very substantial part of our population,” Greenspan said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Read More: -Newsmax