Greenspan is no friend of capitalism, no friend of freedom

Alan Greenspan effectively renounced his standing as capitalist, let alone as an Objectivist, in his years as the Fed chairman. He made his renunciation explicit by blaming the semi-free economy on which he inflicted himself for years at the Fed helm for its current state. He went the distance recently by adding his voice to calls to nationalize banks.

”It may be necessary to temporarily nationalise some banks in order to facilitate a swift and orderly restructuring,” he said. “I understand that once in a hundred years this is what you do.”

This remarkable confession demonstrates what it means to fail to grasp the concept principle—i.e., either we're free or not. Greenspan is saying, in effect, "Yeah, freedom is important, but not now; not after my policies and those of the US government across decades spawned this historic mess."

Granted, Bush confessed the same thing when he said:"I've abandoned free-market principles in order to save the free-market system." But the bar is set real low for him. I don't expect much from him.

Greenspan, on the other hand, should know better. It's literally his job to know better. For him to come out for nationalizing anything, let alone the banks, is no different, in principle, from saying this: "It may be necessary to temporarily bring back slavery in order to facilitate a swift and orderly return to prosperity." It's a deeply offensive idea and should be met with moral outrage.