Finished reviewing Greenspan’s autobiography, and what sticks out is that as Federal Reserve chairman he testified in Congress about taxes and spending as much as he spoke about monetary policy. The Fed chairman does not have any responsibility to deal with budgetary issues, but presidents of both parties and members of Congress wanted his input about the federal government’s finances.
Although Greenspan considers himself a libertarian Republican, you could not tell from his actions as Fed chairman for nearly 19 years and his comments about taxes and spending, especially as he is the author of the 1966 essay, Gold and Economic Freedom. I will have more to say about Greenspan’s tenure at the Fed in my book.