---
title: Greenspans defence
date: "2002-09-09T12:00:00Z"
categories:
  - links
wp_id: 1180
description: I examine Greenspan’s argument that identifying bubbles in real-time is impossible, justifying why the Fed didn't raise rates earlier to prevent the late-nineties market surge and subsequent crash.
keywords: [alan greenspan, federal reserve, monetary policy, interest rates, asset bubbles, dot-com bubble]
---

[Greenspan's defence](http://www.economist.com/finance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1313946). On why he couldn't have raised interest rates earlier and prevented the bubble.