Washington – In his new book, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan bashes President Bush for mishandling the nation’s spending and racking up big budget deficits.
A self-described “libertarian Republican,” Greenspan takes his own party to task for forsaking conservative principles that favor small government.
“My biggest frustration remained the president’s unwillingness to wield his veto against out-of-control spending,” Greenspan wrote.
Bush took office in 2001, the last time the government produced a budget surplus. Every year after that, the government has been in the red. In 2004, the deficit swelled to a record $413 billion.
“The Republicans in Congress lost their way,” Greenspan wrote. “They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose.”
Greenspan’s memoir, “The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World,” is scheduled for release Monday. The Associated Press purchased a copy Saturday at a retailer in the Washington area.
Greenspan, 81, ran the Fed for 18 1/2 years, the second-longest-serving chief.
He says he began to write the book on Feb. 1, 2006, the day his successor – Ben Bernanke – took over.
The ex-Fed chief writes that he laments the loss of fiscal discipline: ” ‘Deficits don’t matter,’ to my chagrin, became part of Republicans’ rhetoric.”
Greenspan long has argued that persistent budget deficits pose a danger to the economy over the long run.
Large projected surpluses were the basis for Bush’s $1.35 trillion, 10-year tax cut approved in the summer of 2001.
Budget experts projected the government would run a whopping $5.6 trillion worth of surpluses over the subsequent decade after the cuts. Those surpluses never materialized.
The White House defended its fiscal policies in light of the Greenspan book.
