Friday, October 24, 2008

Greenspan Surprised That Those Who Manage Corporations Act Selfishly

This little gem from Greenspans testimony needs a second look:

"Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholder's equity (myself especially) are in a state of shocked disbelief."

From here ->
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122476545437862295.html
and here:
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2008/10/23/greenspan-shocked-to-find-flaw-in-ideology/

Wow, I am stunned too. Who would have thought that executives who were paid hundreds of millions in yearly bonuses, each, might have been influenced by those bonuses? And influenced to act in a way that might not be in the best interests of the company? You mean they acted selfishly?

Obviously this Greenspan guy has never worked for a corporation. Any grunt not in the executive suite, IN ANY FRIGGIN COMPANY, knows that it's all about management. The people who work their way to the top are usually the most selfish bastards in the company. It is no surprise to 99% of Americans who are not CEOs or CFOs or Directors that these guys won't hesitate to act in the way that benefits them, regardless of the interests of the company.

It is a surprise to me, that this Greenspan guy, who surely would agree with the whole "greed is good" philosophy seemed to have a blind spot when it came to executive greed.

Hmmm, perhaps a quick check of his resume on Wikipedia --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Greenspan . Oh, now it's clear - GREENSPAN HAS NEVER, EVER, HELD A JOB IN HIS ENTIRE LIFE WHERE HE EITHER DID NOT WORK FOR HIMSELF OR THE GOVERNMENT.

Yep - that explains the blind spot. Kind of a big blind spot for an economic expert. Hell, even the Russians under the government of the USSR knew the factory management was making out too damn well. Is there a country on this earth where the vast majority of people are not already familiar with this concept? Can they that take back that phony, I mean honorary, PhD?