Greenspan: Savings glut half-way over

Bloomberg reports on the continuing flow of prognostications from former Fed Chief Alan Greenspan who seems to have turned his attention away from posting odds on the next recession, focusing instead on gauging what's left of the global savings glut.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said financial markets are benefiting from a "one shot" flow of savings from the developing world that is about half-way over.

Foreign savings have "created this liquidity we are seeing," Greenspan, 81, told the Building Owners and Managers Association's international conference in New York. "It is not permanent. It is reflective of a one shot thing. I'd say we're about half-way through."


Greenspan left the Fed in January 2006 after serving 18 years. During that time, his policies helped produce the longest economic expansion in U.S. history from 1991 to 2001.

The former chairman is giving lectures to earn money and is also writing a book on his experiences. "The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World,'' is scheduled for release Sept. 17 by Penguin Press. His comments today ranged from oil dependency, to capital flows, to immigration.
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Greenspan said the U.S. must reduce its dependency on oil or face "serious problems."'

"People who want to buy SUVs are going to want to buy big, huge energy-inefficient cars," Greenspan said. "The only way to get consumption to go down is for prices to go up, and they are going up."

September 17th - mark your calender.