Pointing a finger

James Kwak of Baseline Scenario blames Allen "The Maestro" Greenspan.

Fourth, and most importantly, unlike every other blameworthy candidate I can think of, he could actually have done something about the bubble. If he had taken asset price inflation seriously, the answer would have been obvious: raise interest rates much earlier than he actually did. He wouldn't even have had to ask if there was a bubble or not. The way the Fed usually works, they look at the CPI -- if it is too high, they raise rates. They don't stop and think about whether there are fundamental reasons why inflation should be high; they just raise rates. If they had taken the same approach with asset prices, they would have raised rates earlier, which would have deflated the bubble.

Instead, he suggested at the time that people were fools not to take out ARMs.

Obviously, Greenspan committed no crime and he wasn't a crook. But Mr. Mitchell's reputation is sacrosanct and it deserves to get dirty.