The Lord of the Rings, Alan Greenspan, Returns

Alan Greenspan is back in the news. In fact, he's on the radio right now - on the Leonard Lopate show at WNYC 93.9. You can catch the interview later on here. As the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board for almost two decades (from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush), Alan Greenspan became the Wizard of Oz of the American economy. People analyzed his every word, even the thickness of his briefcase, looking for evidence of which way the economic winds were blowing. He's also quite possibly NYU's most famous alumnus (he earned a B.S., an M.A., and a Ph.D. in Economics).

Greenspan is talking to Leonard Lopate about his new book, which is both a memoir and a "detective story about the economy." He admits a few errors (notably in his forecasts of future attacks after September 11th) and rates the Presidents he worked with (Ford was the most "decent," Clinton understood the economy best).