#1: Alan Greenspan
Position: Federal Reserve chairman (1987-2006)
Sin: Sowed the seeds of market excess.
The well-burnished legacy of Greenspan, the oracle of the free market and most important financial figure of the last two decades, was irreparably tarnished by the financial meltdown he failed to anticipate or prevent.
Of all the public officials who had the potential power to regulate the excesses in the financial markets before they triggered the current recession/depression, Greenspan was the one atop Mount Olympus. Instead, his actions enabled banks, brokerages, and insurance companies to abandon their duty to public trust while allowing them to speculate heavily in exotic financial instruments without disclosing their risk-taking fully. Greenspan, as Federal Reserve chairman, did not feel the need to either regulate or rely on disclosure of excessive risk taking.
Infamous Quote: “Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholder’s equity—myself especially—are in a state of shocked disbelief,” said Greenspan to Congress last October as he admitted to being “partially” wrong.
Where Is He Now?: Speaker, economic consultant. Since leaving office, on payroll of hedge-fund titan John Paulson, bond firm Pimco, and Deutsche Bank, among others.
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