Stiglitz Blames Greenspan For Recession

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Tuesday, Feb 26, 2008

Former chief economist of the World Bank, Joseph Stiglitz, has said that the US economy is already in recession and is pointing the finger of blame directly towards former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan.

Remarking that the economy is "probably" now in recession, Stiglitz told Bloomberg Television that "There is a very significant slowdown in the U.S. economy… The housing bubble has broken and housing prices are coming down. Most experts think they will have to come down substantially more.”

Stiglitz stressed that Alan Greenspan "is right that this downturn is going to be the worst downturn in a quarter century, but he’s largely to blame,” adding "It’s not just that he was asleep at the wheel, he actively looked the other way”.

Stiglitz’s comments come on the back of news that Greenspan has been actively urging Gulf states to abandon the dollar peg, a move that could result in financial chaos and a further economic depression in America. We have previously reported on Greenspan’s penchant for working to destroy the US economy.

Stiglitz also took a swipe at current Fed chairman Ben S. Bernanke, charging him with failing to counter the deterioration of the real-estate market by procrastinating over interest rate cuts.

"The dramatic lowering of the main interest rate by 75 basis points [last month] was a panic not a prudent measure.” Stiglitz said.

The Nobel-prize winning economist also cited the $3 trillion cost of the Iraq war as a key factor in the economic downturn, saying it has increased the budget deficit and consumed resources that would otherwise promote growth.

In contrast, the president last week stated that the war in Iraq has had no bearing on the economic slump.

Stiglitz is no stranger to speaking out against the establishment on the economy. In October 2001 he caused controversy when he exposed rampant corruption within the IMF and blew the whistle on their nefarious methods of inducing countries to fall under their debt before stripping them of sovereignty and hollowing out their economies.

Sixteen months ago, on the nationally syndicated Alex Jones radio show, Stiglitz predicted a global economic crash would occur within 2 years.