Chairman of the (Fed) Board:
Duck and cover: One of those glossy men's mag A-bombs is about to hit official Washington. In this case, the "A" stands for "Alan."
GQ's Wil Hylton has written a non-loving profile of Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan in which he accuses the Chairman, with some evidence, of being, a, well, a political hack - but not necessarily a partisan one.
Tracing Greenspan's political career from obscure Randian disciple to Nixon economist to Ford political adviser (sort of) to mysterious, Andrea-Mitchell-loving, tennis-playing, naked-bathtub-loving Fed Chair, Hylton suggests that Greenspan's political instincts do not always lend themselves to the advancement of Republican causes.
To wit: Greenspan's famous "deal" with Bush 41. There's an amusing exchange in the article with Nicholas Brady, who seems to admit that Greenspan agreed to lower interest rates if "the president would tackle fiscal policy&. He just plain didn't do what he said he was going to do." According to Hylton, Brady does a Class A Emergency Dial Back after those remarks.
Fans of the Chairman's will find Hylton's profile to be gosh-darned mean and will probably dispute his account of history, but the article is certain to be be widely e-mailed and widely referenced in the days ahead - after it is released in NY/LA on March 22nd.
Hylton's account is characterological and eschews an in-depth discussion of policy issues - and certainly doesn't even attempt to answer the question of whether the Chairman has done a good job.
A telling excerpt:
"In certain parts of Washington, parsing the Fed chairman's languageknown as 'Greenspeak'has become a sort of parlor game. But according to people close to Greenspan, that's a waste of time. There is nothing to figure out, they say, because Greenspan isn't saying anything. As his friend of fifty years, Charles Brunie, recalls, 'Before he took office, he said, 'If ever you think you understand me, you will be mistaken, because I plan to obfuscate.' I remember the word obfuscate.' Or as Greenspan's tennis partner and former Clinton aide, Gene Sperling, explains, 'When he's sending a vague or mixed signal, it is by design.' Or as Greenspan's old friend, the economist Milton Friedman, puts it, 'I don't think it's an accident, whether he's ambiguous or not.' According to sources at the Fed, Greenspan even takes pleasure in his obfuscation. Sometimes he will return from one of his speeches before Congress and order a video of his testimony, marveling out loud as he watches: 'What in the world does that mean?" Obstruction, then, is the name of the game.'"
Insiders: watch your e-mail and fax machines for the advanced text.
Civilians: Look for the April issue on newsstands.