589 Quotes by Alan Greenspan

Excessive optimism sows the seeds of its own reversal.

Unless you are willing to compromise, society cannot live together.

The good news is that evidence is becoming more persuasive that our electronic infrastructure will be ready for the Century Date Change, ... The public's understanding of the degree of our Y2K readiness also has grown, and fears of widespread disruptions around the CDC appear to be waning, though we are not as yet home free.

The remarkable American economy, whose roots are still not conclusively known, and the Asian crises that caught us by surprise, among other humbling experiences, have made policy-makers particularly sensitive to how fast the world can shift beneath our feet,

The economic and financial world is changing in ways that we still do not fully comprehend, ... Policymakers accordingly cannot always count on an ability to anticipate potentially adverse developments sufficiently in advance to effectively address them.

But, given our current state of knowledge, I find it difficult to envision central banks successfully targeting asset prices any time soon,

Well, you probably will always believe there should be laws against fraud, and I don't think there is any need for a law against fraud.

To develop a financial center ... the issue isn't interest of developing infrastructure.

Fear invariably and universally induces disengagement, and disengagement is negative division of labor.