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August 01, 2008

The Maestro Won't Face the Music
by Peter Schiff

In an interview yesterday on CNBC, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan cast his eyes on the charred landscape of the national real estate market and offered high-minded criticisms of the obvious excesses and irrationalities that brought on the devastation. Greenspan's attitude was akin to a retired drug dealer lamenting the urban blight caused by rampant addiction. He noted that housing prices were still too high, that too many homeowners were upside down on their mortgages, and that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were accidents waiting to happen. Methinks the serial bubble blower doth protest too much.

The housing bubble was Greenspan's doing pure and simple. He gave birth to it, nurtured it, protected it, and guided it during every stage of its development. In fact, if there was a deck of playing cards featuring the key players in this debacle, Alan Greenspan would be the ace of spades. The fact that the media still holds this joker in such high esteem is a testament to just how clueless they are. Rather than fawning over his every word, journalists should be grilling him like a CIA interrogator.

In his new post-Fed incarnation, Greenspan does show an increased willingness to speak the truth ... perhaps sharp candor generates higher speaking fees the murky academic jargon. However, conveniently missing from his belated admission that home prices are too high is that his irresponsible monetary policies propelled prices to those heights in the first place. In fact, even as the housing bubble was inflating, Greenspan repeatedly denied its existence. He took every opportunity to talk the real estate market up and went out of his way to justify irrationally high home prices.

His concerns about upside down mortgages are particularly offensive given his consistent praise, when he was Fed Chairman, of the ability of home equity extractions to fuel economic growth. In fact, during the final years of his tenure there was no greater proponent for cash out re-financing than Alan Greenspan. Not only did the Maestro routinely commend homeowners for their sophisticated approach to "managing their home equity", but he applauded Wall Street and mortgage lenders for their creativity and ingenuity. Of course, home equity extractions are largely responsible for so many homeowners now owing more than their homes are worth!

His most brazen contention was that he had tried to warn us of the dangers that Fannie and Freddie could pose to the entire economy. Excuse me, but when exactly did he sound this alarm? His points that Fannie and Freddie should not exist, and that the moral hazard of private profits and socialized losses is an accident waiting to happen would have been right on point had he actually made them while still Fed Chairman. Too bad Maria Bartiromo did not remind Greenspan that the accident has already taken place. Fannie and Freddie's flawed design may have rendered them destined to slip but it was Greenspan himself who supplied the banana peel.

For a more in depth analysis of our financial problems and the inherent dangers they pose for the U.S. economy and U.S. dollar denominated investments, read Peter Schiff's book "Crash Proof: How to Profit from the Coming Economic Collapse." Click here to order a copy today.

More importantly, don't wait for reality to set in. Protect your wealth and preserve your purchasing power before it's too late. Discover the best way to buy gold at www.goldyoucanfold.com, download our free research report on the powerful case for investing in foreign equities available at www.researchreportone.com, and subscribe to our free, on-line investment newsletter at http://www.europac.net/newsletter/newsletter.asp.

Peter Schiff C.E.O. and Chief Global Strategist
Euro Pacific Capital, Inc.

Mr. Schiff is one of the few non-biased investment advisors (not committed solely to the short side of the market) to have correctly called the current bear market before it began and to have positioned his clients accordingly. As a result of his accurate forecasts on the U.S. stock market, commodities, gold and the dollar, he is becoming increasingly more renowned. He has been quoted in many of the nations leading newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Investor's Business Daily, The Financial Times, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Dallas Morning News, The Miami Herald, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Arizona Republic, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Christian Science Monitor, and has appeared on CNBC, CNNfn., and Bloomberg. In addition, his views are frequently quoted locally in the Orange County Register.

Mr. Schiff began his investment career as a financial consultant with Shearson Lehman Brothers, after having earned a degree in finance and accounting from U.C. Berkley in 1987. A financial professional for seventeen years he joined Euro Pacific in 1996 and has served as its President since January 2000. An expert on money, economic theory, and international investing, he is a highly recommended broker by many of the nation's financial newsletters and advisory services.

Copyright © 2005-2009 Euro Pacific Capital, Inc.

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