In the Shadow of a Giant

There are many lingering questions that will have a tremendous impact on our lives as Americans in the next few years. These questions are who will W. choose to replace Greenspan and who will he recommend to replace Chief Justice Rehnquist. This question is raised not only in the context of the Chief Justice he chooses, but in who he will nominate to the Supreme Court. These two individuals will have a tremendous impact on our lives over the next quarter century.

The article The Greenspan Succession reminds us of the quiet importance of Greenspan. During the dot com boom, his words could make the market sink or explode. His absence and lack of public addresses have allowed the market to be languid this month. Greenspan has been a towering figure in American economic policy since 1987 and has guided the country though the greatest economic boom of the 20th century. He was someone who thought independently of those in office until W. took office. The article mentioned above has mentioned the change in Greenspan:

"Yet President Bush, as you may have noticed, only appoints yes-men (or yes-women). This is most obvious on the national security front, but it's equally true with regard to economic policy. The current Treasury secretary has no obvious qualifications other than loyalty. The new head of the National Economic Council apparently got the job because he is a Bush classmate and fund-raiser.

Of course, Mr. Greenspan himself has become a Bush yes-man. The chairman acted as a stern father figure, demanding fiscal rectitude, when Democrats held the White House. But he turned into an indulgent uncle when Mr. Bush took office. First, he urged Congress to cut taxes in order, he said, to prevent an excessively large budget surplus. Then, when surpluses were replaced by huge deficits, he supported a highly irresponsible second round of tax cuts."

What is disturbing is that if Greenspan retires and W. has the option of replacing him, the United States will be in an economic quagmire not seen since the 20's. Poor money management hurts the country. When the United Nations declares that the U.S. must spend less or risk global shock something needs to change and quickly. "The United States cannot rely on a falling dollar alone to tame its soaring trade deficit but must also cut government spending and save more or risk delivering a dangerous shock to the world economy, U.N. forecasters warned on Tuesday.

Without such additional steps, the world economy could suffer an "abrupt and globally damaging correction," according to the latest report on world economic prospects from the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs." The United Nations giving the United States economic advise is the equivalent to Bill Clinton calling William Bennett a moral man. However, the alarms the United Nations are sounding are real. The United States is heading down a path of economic disaster. The question is how soon will it happen and how bad will it be?