I'm through with Alan Greenspan. It may indeed be a good idea to increase skilled immigration; for all I know, it might even be a good idea to increase it spec

I'm through with Alan Greenspan. It may indeed be a good idea to increase skilled immigration; for all I know, it might even be a good idea to increase it specifically to support home prices. But I just can't stomach hearing this from the guy who probably did more than anyone else to inflate the housing bubble. This housing crisis wasn't some obscure, unexpected blow from an economic blind spot that surprised economists and policy makers alike. Greenspan didn't just ignore the concerns of a bunch of fringe doomsayers - he ignored obvious and well documented warning signs. Housing prices jumped, so Greenspan lowered interest rates. They jumped more, so Greenspan lowered the rates even more. They jumped again, and Greenspan lowered them to 40 year lows and started touting the benefits of exotic mortgages that could get them even lower. Now he suggests that we pursue a high population immigration strategy so that we can fill up those houses at their peak valuations? Good one. The funny thing is, I'm not really opposed to skilled immigration (provided it is done with freedom and is broad based, not through corporate indentured servitude targeting a small sector of the labor pool). But we need to hear it from someone other than Greenspan. He needs to hang out by the pool and play golf now, I'm not interested in hearing from him. Like Marcellus Wallace said to Butch: "you get gone, and when you gone, you stay gone, or you be gone. You lost all your LA privileges."