Greenspan devours data, rejects dogma
104348
In September 1996, Alan Greenspan was fixated on a statistic neglected by most economic forecasters. It was service-sector worker productivity, a measure of how much an employee could produce in an hour.
712146
(InfoWorld) - Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan is hitting the airwaves promoting his new book, but his comments in recent interviews about the possibility of a recession might be scarier to IT folks than anything in the new tome. Greenspan, who has become a Federal Reserve chairman emeritus of sorts, might be more objective now that he is out of his federal role. He told the Wall Street Journal yesterday that he thought the probability of a recession is "slightly more than a third," up from merely a third, as he put it earlier this year. For IT professionals and CEOs of major software and hardware vendors, the prospect of a recession any time soon is downright daunting, given that memories of the 2001-2002 dot-com bust are still fresh. If housing price declines and the troubles with home mortgage lenders precipitate a longer economic downturn in the next year, the effect could roughly halve the 12-year cycle many economists track for upturns and downturns, some observers noted yesterday. "I'm certainly concerned with the housing downturn," said IT market analyst Jason Sajko, who studies government spending on IT for consulting firm Input. "But I don't see that creating something like what we felt in 2001 and 2002 so soon after then. I don't think we'll see an impact of that magnitude." Sajko and Input do frequent analysis of federal, state, and local spending on IT products and services. A month ago, Input said it was still projecting strong growth in state and local government spending in the United States on IT products and services into 2012, increasing from $43.9 billion in 2007 to $67.2 billion in 2012. That analysis was able to track the impact of the general economy, including the news in the last six months over housing market problems. In a small update to that analysis yesterday, Sajko said that state and local governments are also beginning to use a new catalog of IT vendors and prices called Schedule 70 provided by the U.S. General Services Administration. The GSA provides the catalog as a resource to thousands of state and local IT purchasing managers, Sajko explained. For Schedule 70, growth in IT spending among local and state governments will increase nearly 25 percent a year to 2012, exceeding $1 billion. While $1 billion is a small portion of the total spending in that category, it shows primarily a shift in the way spending will be done, not so much the overall level of spending related to the larger IT economy, Sajko said. Still, state and local spending on IT can be seen as a "more stable" area for IT spending in coming years than others, Sajko said. Several CEOs in recent days have said in interviews with Computerworld that they are carefully watching the direction of the general economy. They said they learned from the dot-com bust to adapt their products to the most successful market segments in order to weather downturns. For example, Maria Ligeti, CEO of startup React Systems in Roseville, Calif., said yesterday she has profited from observing the IT industry's upturns and downturns in Silicon Valley for more than 20 years while working in various roles. A new product and service her company is launching soon in emergency communications will be marketed to several vertical industry segments. She said the offerings have been fostered over several months by early adopters, she said. "We think we'll be somewhat immune" if there's a downturn, she said with confidence.
220977
Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Wednesday he feared a "dramatic contraction" in Chinese stocks but said the global economy may be able to shrug off a drop in asset prices.
199468
The record level of debt being carried by American households and soaring home prices do not appear to represent serious threats to the U.S. economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Tuesday.
64546
NEW YORK - Investors were unmoved by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's improved assessment of the economy, and stocks remained mixed Wednesday in light trading.    While Greenspan said the economy has "regained some traction" after the summer's slowdown, he echoed Wall Street's concerns over energy prices, which stubbornly remain over $40 per barrel...
73774
U.S. stocks slipped on Wednesday as  Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, speaking before  Congress about the health of the economy, did little to quell  expectations for a rate hike later this month.
42129
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan  Greenspan on Sunday faulted Democrats, including presidential  candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton, for moving away from former  President Bill Clinton&#39;s embrace of globalization.
122834
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the current market turmoil is "identical" in many ways to that which occurred in 1987 and 1998, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition on Friday.
406917
TOKYO -- Former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said yesterday that he didn't think an economic downturn in his country was "probable," toning down his earlier warning over a recession later this year.
533229
China's stock plunge and Greenspan's gloomy words helped spook investors. But opinions on the economy's future are divided
17080
Alan Greenspan had a lot to say Tuesday about financial market turmoil, but by confining his observations to past crises, he made sure he didn't roil markets like he did two weeks ago.
50342
The U.S. economy is showing early  signs of stagflation as growth threatens to stall while food  and energy prices soar, former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman  Alan Greenspan said on Sunday.
617478
The S&P 500 is adjusting its scale, but this diet is a cheater.
456454
Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan  Greenspan was quoted as seeing a "one-third probability" of  recession in the United States this year, according to an  interview with Bloomberg.
6958
Alan Greenspan, when chairman of the  Federal Reserve, brushed off an idea to boost scrutiny of  subprime mortgage lenders, a former Fed governor told the Wall  Street Journal.
591538
China's plunge and Greenspan's gloomy words spooked investors. But views on the economy's future are divided
643579
Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan compares the current financial market turbulence to prior crises that have engulfed stock markets and the US economy.