A new look at Greenspan shows the economic perils of trusting oracles
SEBASTIAN MALLABY’S NEW BIOGRAPHY OF FORMER Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan, The Man Who Knew, might easily have been titled The Man Who Knew—And Didn’t Act. The central revelation of the book is that Greenspan, far from being a blind follower of “markets know best” efficiency theory, was well aware that easy monetary policy and soaring stock prices could create bubbles—terribly damaging ones. And yet throughout his tenure, he allowed them to expand,
