Fed leaders – past and present – have chosen today to be awfully talkative. And they haven’t at all times been in agreement with each other, either. So here are the highlights of today’s Fed speak.

Alan Greenspan, Former Fed chief, on the Bubble

Alan Greenspan, in an interview with Bloomberg TV, disagreed with SF Fed president Janet Yellen’s assessment that an increase in interest rates could have mitigated the growth of the housing bubble. He argued, as he has before, that a decrease in long term interest rates around the world led to the boom. Short-term interest rates were irrelevant.

Ok – so long-term interest rates are responsible for the bubble. We sure don’t want to encourage a housing bubble based on that again. Right?

Maybe not. Read more