John Galt rolls over in his grave

On July 16, 2002 Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan testified before the Senate Banking Committee. In his testimony he revealed that he has done a 180* reversal on basic economic philosophy.

Since the late 50s (or earlier) Greenspan has been a vocal advocate of laissez faire capitalism. His policies have always attempted to steer to US economy toward less regulation of business.

The shot heard 'round the world:
"My original view was that taking accounting standards and moving them out of the private sector was really utterly unnecessary, because my view was always that accountants basically knew or had to know that the market value of their companies rested on the integrity of their operations."

"Their self-interest is so strongly directed at making certain that their reputation was unimpeachable that regulation by government was utterly unnecessary and, indeed, most inappropriate."

"I was wrong."

To sum it up: Greenspan (finally) figured out that the tenets of unregulated capitalism are both wrong and destructive. Like Communism, it's a nice theory, but it relies on false assumptions about human behavior. And as all Communists eventually do he turned his back on something which is near and dear - but which is doomed to failure. Unlike too many people who have a gut-wrenching epiphany, Greenspan was public and contrite in his statement. Rock on, Alan!

Over the decades Greenspan was part of Ayn Rand's inner circle of would-be movers and shakers - a group determined to undermine the government oversight of business. Their success was remarkable in that The Randists have been a significant factor in the deregulation trends of the past two decades.

Now that their most influential advocate has seen the folly of unimpeded business avarice, which laissez faire icons will be the next to fall?

Who is John Galt? Note: including this link does not imply endorsement of the activities or philosophy of the referenced web site and its publishers and/or readers. Nor does it imply endorsement of the use of trademarks and copyrights owned by the Ayn Rand estate. I doubt that these folks have the permission to use said restricted items.