-->noch hat er wohl Hemmungen, sich selbst als Schock-Absorber namentlich
zu preisen.

DJ Greenspan: US Economy Can Withstand 'Monumental' Shocks

08/29/2003
Dow Jones News Services
(Copyright © 2003 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)



JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (Dow Jones)--Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday that financial and labor market deregulation have so increased the resiliency of the U.S. economy that it has proved capable of withstanding even"monumental" shocks.

At a conference of economists and central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Greenspan challenged the central findings of two researchers who argued that economic shocks that trigger recessions have become less frequent in the last two decades.

"I have been watching the economy for 50 years and I don't think there has been a reduction in the number of shocks," Greenspan said, commenting on research by James Stock and Mark Watson of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Instead, Greenspan said, the U.S. economy has simply grown more resilient, minimizing the effects of the shocks. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, clearly illustrated that resilience, he said.

"There is no question that Sept. 11 is a shock of monumental importance," Greenspan said. Yet, he said, its effects disappeared from financial markets within three months.

"I would submit that there has been a very significant increase in the flexibility of the American economy - and the world economy - to absorb shock," Greenspan said.

He attributed that flexibility to financial and labor market deregulation, saying those changes allow the country"to absorb shock in ways that couldn't have been possible in the past."


-By Joseph Rebello, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9279; joseph.rebello@dowjones.com