So…if I understand you here, your entire theory centers on the ‘fact’ that Allan Greenspan was a supposed libertarian and following a libertarian philosophy? Can you point to some libertarian policies he pushed through?
See, the thing is that libertarians don’t believe in ANY government (or quasi-government) controls…like, for example, the adjusting of interest rates (artificially) which was one of the factors that brought about the housing bubble. Even if I agreed that Greenspan was a libertarian, it’s like saying Bush is an economic conservative…you can SAY it all you like, but show me the money. Show me the libertarian policies put in place because frankly I ain’t seein’ em.
Well, YOUR argument rests on Greenspan being a libertarian AND pushing through a libertarian agenda…and you haven’t proven either. I concede that Greenspan was an adherent of Ayn Rand (which, you know, isn’t the same thing as being a libertarian)…but I see no sign that his policies reflect his personal philosophy. You do realize that the Chairman of the Fed doesn’t have carte blanche to push through anything he wants…right?
Really? Then it should be no problem for you to show some examples from the Bushistas clearly denoting libertarian economic policies…right? Please do so.
Not at all. Had you bothered to ask first I would have told you that I don’t believe that Greenspan has pushed through anything even remotely resembling libertarian economic policy…regardless of what his personal philosophy is. Sort of like Bush…while personally he seems opposed to abortion, favors prayer in school, etc etc, he hasn’t DONE anything about it since he’s been in office. He hasn’t pushed through a fundamentalist social philosophy…only made noises about it, paid lip service to it.
Instead of calling me intellectually dishonest by handwaving about Greenspan, why don’t you SHOW me some of these libertarian policies he has enacted? While you are at it you can back up your assertions that Bush et al have also followed a libertarian economic plan as well.
I will await your proofs with hopeful anticipation…
Well…yeah. He fucked up by the numbers. It’s big of him to admit it…and I mean that truly, since it seems that a lot of our politicians who also fucked up can’t bring themselves to admit it (nor, for that matter, do many in private industry who also fucked up). However, your entire argument hinges on Greenspan not only being a libertarian but also following a libertarian economic agenda…so, lets see some specific policies he enacted that clearly show such a libertarian agenda, ehe? Otherwise what you have is a guy who may have a personal philosophy sort of in line with libertarian ideals (though most Randian’s aren’t actually all that fond of libertarians), but hasn’t actually done more than pay lip service to those ideals. Of course, there is a good reason why he didn’t…but no point in complicating things at this point.
Thanks in advance for your numerous and accurate examples.
-XT