Dr Greenspan’s defence: ‘It really wasn’t my fault’

The former Fed chairman tells Dominic Crossley-Holland that, on mature reflection, he doesn’t feel he should be blamed for a financial bubble blown by global economic forces

‘I feel bribed,’ said Dr Alan Greenspan in a soft voice. It had been a bit like a dinner party game. What do you give the world’s greatest living exponent of capitalism? The answer, according to his ever-helpful office: a box of rather swish dark chocolates.

We were seated in the panelled boardroom of the offices that Greenspan Associates share with a hedge fund in Washington DC. It was a rare chance to discuss (for a BBC document-ary) the causes and consequences of the great economic upheaval with the man who oversaw America’s economy for almost two decades. The former chairman of the Federal Reserve, now 83, remains the undisputed architect of the boom, but some believe he is also the man most responsible for the bust.