Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan spoke with FOX Business Network’s (FBN) Maria Bartiromo about his concerns on the global economy. When asked whether he thinks Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen will raise interest rates in September Greenspan said, “I refuse to discuss that publicly” and I’m “quite” worried about a bond market bubble. Greenspan also commented on the Unites States economic story compared to the rest of the world saying, “the United States strangely enough as badly as we are doing are still the best of the worst. Nobody is doing well.”
On whether he thinks Janet Yellen will raise rates in September
“I refuse to discuss that publicly…what people are not focusing on is we have a bond market bubble and when that decides to work its way off we’re in trouble. And people don’t realize that interest rates are a very interesting economic phenomenon…the Federal Reserve is doing the best it can. It’s a very tough position they’re in and they’re very smart and I know because I’ve dealt with all these people for a number of years.”
On whether he is worried about the bond market bubble throughout the global markets
“Quite – just think in terms of the issue, the concern everyone has about the level of debt, think about what the level of debt means when interest rates move.”
On Greece’s impact to the United States
“Well a direct impact occurs because of the fact Europe or basically if you want to put it this way, the Eurozone is a very significant part of the internationally community and as a consequence there is no way in which that cannot affect the United States negatively.”
On the United States economic story compared to the rest of the world
“The United States strangely enough as badly as we are doing are still the best of the worst. Nobody is doing well. And that still doesn’t make us any better.”
Fox Business Network
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