WASHINGTON — As Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan testified before Congress on dozens of occasions over almost two decades. Time after time, lawmakers hung on his every word, soliciting the wisdom of "the Oracle" on the economy.
But not Thursday.
This time, instead of praise, angry lawmakers in an ornate hearing room heaped blame on the 82-year-old economist for the current financial crisis and demanded to know how he could have been so wrong.
Grim-faced, Greenspan could offer only a limited defense. In his trademark gravelly monotone, he conceded that he was in a state of "shocked disbelief" at the breakdown of credit markets that triggered what he called "a once-in-a-century credit tsunami."
"This crisis . . . has turned out to be much broader than anything I could have imagined," he told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "Given the financial damage to date, I cannot see how we can avoid a significant rise in layoffs and unemployment."
The appearance was his first in such a public forum since the crisis began and provided a dramatic bookend for the demise of the economic boom and the unmaking of a reputation.
Instead of hanging on Greenspan's words, some lawmakers pelted him with them, bombarding him with his own past statements downplaying concerns over a housing crash.
Near the end of the four-hour grilling, which he shared with former Treasury Secretary John W. Snow and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox, Greenspan suffered a final indignity. The man dubbed "the Maestro" for successfully orchestrating fiscal policy during 18 years as Fed chief found himself likened to one of the great goats of baseball.
"I feel like I'm looking out there at three Bill Buckners," said Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), referring to the Boston Red Sox first baseman who botched an easy grounder in the 1986 World Series. "All of you let the ball go through your legs."
Snow and Cox took a lot of criticism from lawmakers as well. But it was unprecedented to see Greenspan -- the fiscal Hall of Famer of the trio -- being booed for a crucial error.
Under tough questioning from committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) and other Democrats, Greenspan conceded that he was wrong in assuming that free-market forces would prevent the current crisis.
