In trying to justify his decision to ignore the growth of the housing bubble, Alan Greenspan told the NYT that the economy was very weak in 2001-2003 and he feared deflation and further decline. The proper response should have been to ask Greenspan, or to point out to readers, that the economy was weak in the years 2001-2003 because Greenspan had allowed the stock bubble to grow out of control. The crash of this bubble led to a recession from which it was very hard to extricate the economy. If Greenspan felt that the economy faced an extraordinary situation in 2001-2003 it was the result of his own mismanagement.
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