Mad Magazine’s Alfred E. Newman has nothing over the former Fed chairman whose recent op-ed piece in the FT calls for better risk models. “In the current crisis, as in past crises, we can learn much, and policy in the future will be informed by these lessons. But we cannot hope to anticipate the specifics of future crises with any degree of confidence…” Nowhere does he mention regulation. But read the letters to the editor that followed…His piece had 5 or 6 references to euphoria, none to improved regulation.

“…like listening to Robert McNamera talk about the Vietnam War,” says Mike Moehlmann of Philadelphia.

“Pace Greenspan: with regard to forecasting, do not blame the model (or modelling), blame the modeller. More to the point: with regard to system behaviour, blame the regulator,” writes Leander Schneider from Concordia University in Montreal.

“Sir, Is Alan Greenspan serious? Has he looked at what the subprime rate was when he retired? Doesn’t he accept the main share of the responsibility?

He says market models are imperfect. No . . . anybody with Econ 101 could have seen what was happening. I returned to the US in 2004 planning to buy a home. I took one look at the galloping prices - and rented.”  That from Jean B. Barnard, now living in Florida.

“…prudent regulators would have rapped the knuckles of imprudent bankers and nipped the problem, if not in the bud, then at least before things completely got out of hand. But Mr “let the market regulate it” Greenspan chose to do nothing. And now we have the mess.

It would be nice if Mr Greenspan would admit his mistake and stop talking about models that didn’t work. It was the regulators who didn’t work,” writes Tim Keese from Germany.

But like a brain surgeon who makes a living off his mistakes, Greenspan is out there on the lecture circuit making big bucks, along with such recent success storys as Colin Powell, Tommy Franks and Paul Bremmer.

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