Starting at around 1:50, Greenspan states the odds of sequester occurring are very high – in fact, the playdough-faced ex-Chair-head notes, “I find it very difficult to find a scenario in which [the sequester] doesn’t happen” But when asked how this will affect the economy, Awkward Alan is unusually clearly spoken – “the issue is how does it affect the stock market.”
While not so many of our leaders have taken the path to direct truthiness, Greenspan somewhat shocks a Botox’d and babbling Bartiromo when he admits “the stock market is the key player in the game of economic growth.”
Bartiromo shifts uncomfortably in her seat, strokes her imaginary beard and stares blankly as Greenspan explains that while the sequester will have a real effect on the real economy, “if the stock market can hold up through this, then the effect will be rather minor.”
He ends with a couple of wonderful truthisms – data shows that not only are stock markets a leading indicator of economic activity, they are a major cause of it – 6% of the change in the growth in GDP results from changes in the value of stocks and homes. So there it is – if we didn’t already know, straight from an old horse’s mouth – it’s all about stocks!
Fiscal problems? “The problem is so severe at this stage that unless we come to terms with it in a large way, we are running into very serious trouble,” but Dr. Greenspan, if stocks stay up, it’s all good right? Greenspan’s wealth effect meme is all there is…