Calling It Like It Is

Krugman leaves absolutely no room for doubt about what he thinks of Alan Greenspan:

A disturbing thing about Wednesday’s hearing was the deference with which Democratic senators treated Mr. Greenspan. They acted as if he were still playing his proper role, acting as a nonpartisan source of economic advice. After the hearing, rather than challenging Mr. Greenspan’s testimony, they tried to spin it in their favor.

But Mr. Greenspan is no longer entitled to such deference. By repeatedly shilling for whatever the Bush administration wants, he has betrayed the trust placed in Fed chairmen, and deserves to be treated as just another partisan hack.

Krugman implicitly poses an excellent question: for how long will people continue treating Greenspan’s personal belief-system (such as his obvious dislike of government insurance, and of the government more generally) as if it were supported by the science of economics?

Kash