Greenspan Predicts Independent Candidate
CNN has this interesting little item about Alan Greenspan’s new book and his thoughts on a centrist Independent candidate for President in 2008…
Recently retired Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan believes that there will be a major independent candidate for president from the nation’s political center, according to a published report.In an interview with The New York Times about his post-Fed activities, Greenspan said he makes that prediction in a memoir, for which he recently got an estimated $8.5 million advance from Penguin Press, a unit of British publishing concern Pearson.
Greenspan told the Times he plans to argue that the current “ideological divide” separating conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats leaves “a vast untended center from which a well-financed independent presidential candidate is likely to emerge in 2008 or, if not then, in 2012.”
He also told the newspaper the book will focus on “the forces that will determine how the next decades are likely to unfold.” Among his conclusions are that “global competitive pressures are likely in the years ahead to bias most market-oriented economies toward the U.S. model.”
Greenspan is working about 10 hours a day since chairing his last Fed meeting Jan. 31, the newspaper reports, with most of his time spent working on his book.
The Fed chairman, well known for his dense prose in testimony during his 18 years as head of the nation’s central bank, said the book would not be all economic or political analysis.
He told the newspaper he plans to write some of his early life history, including the influence of his mentor, the author and novelist Ayn Rand, who shaped him as a young man into a libertarian. And he promised the newspaper he also will describe his “encounters with, and impressions of” numerous politicians, cabinet members, presidents and world leaders.
Greenspan has made a number of speeches since leaving office. The Times quotes an industry executive as estimating his pay at $90,000 to $150,000. But Greenspan said he has been careful to “stay closely to statements I’ve made previously either in speeches or in testimony.
“Ben Bernanke has a tough enough job as it is,” Greenspan told the newspaper, referring his successor. “Having his predecessor speak out on monetary policy or on the short-term business outlook is not helpful.”
March 10th, 2006 at 11:00 pm
[...] The Lou Dobbs Show on CNN apparently asked its viewers a question on Tuesday: Would you consider membership in a third party? As of the latest reporting (via DailyKos), 90% of them said “yes.” Coming on the heels of Greenspan’s prediction of a viable centrist third-party candidate for President in either 2008 or 2012, this is big news. Obviously, the people are getting fed up with Republican betrayals of the Constitution and fiscal discipline, and Democratic betrayal of their spines. [...]
March 11th, 2006 at 4:27 am
With Greenspan’s endorsement of the concept (if not the person), this is now practically inevitable. Even after retirement the old man’s word still sways the economy, this will get investors looking at third party candidates more closely.
March 11th, 2006 at 11:36 am
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Posted in Mahoney for Governor | 6 Comments »
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March 12th, 2006 at 2:37 am
I’ve been predicting there will be an independent candidate with a hawkish reputation campaigning for a quick withdrawal from Iraq … sort of an “only X could go to Y” theme. Most likely it will be McCain or Ventura, although I suppose most of the independents will fall in line behind McCain if he manages to win the Republican nomination.
March 12th, 2006 at 7:30 am
I greatly look forward to reading Greenspan’s book.
March 12th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
I’d also like to add: Splitting the difference between conservative Republicans and so-called liberal Democrats would in fact represent the “old” Republicans prior to its severe right-wing slant. Anything from a sensible conservative like John McCain to a Libertarian type of viewpoint could be considered in this “middle.” What really has disappeared is a truly leftist candidate, but such a candidate has no possibility in being “well financed,” as Greenspan notes would be essential.
March 12th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
Damn it, I have to say one more thing: Greenspan’s opinion is undoubtedly influenced by the fact that America’s wealthiest financiers have no faith whatsoever in the Bush administration or the ability of similarly “conservative” politicians to maintain orderly markets. Warren Buffet, for example, is undoubtedly a Republican, but an outspoken critic of Bush, and he’s not alone.
March 12th, 2006 at 1:57 pm
[...] (via hammeroftruth.com) The Lou Dobbs Show on CNN apparently asked its viewers a question on Tuesday: Would you consider membership in a third party? As of the latest reporting (via DailyKos), 90% of them said “yes.” Coming on the heels of Greenspan’s prediction of a viable centrist third-party candidate for President in either 2008 or 2012, this is big news. Obviously, the people are getting fed up with Republican betrayals of the Constitution and fiscal discipline, and Democratic betrayal of their spines. [...]
March 14th, 2006 at 1:36 am
[...] Perhaps this is a sign of what’s to come in 2008, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time that Alan Greenspan correctly predicted the future. [...]