Since Greenspan isn't planning to stand for office, he is quite more free with his choice of words than Bernanke, Geithner or Obama can ever be-- at least while they are still in office.
Greenspan is very concerned about the fiscal deficit and points out that the problem is likely far bigger than the numbers suggest today.
And indeed if anything, the numbers that you're citing and the numbers we're looking at out there are probably underestimates of what the actual true most accurate estimate, of the long-term prospects, are.
You've been in government. I've been in government. And you know what happens in those various calculations. You always assume, when confronted with uncertainties about whether A will happen or B will happen, you always choose the most favorable one.
And reality doesn't like that, and it seems to cause problems. So I think this is a far more severe problem, mainly because of the issue of the markets essentially crying wolf once before.
Anyway, here are some of the ways that you can witness this very interesting talk. If this topic interests you, I highly recommend setting aside an hour or so to watch the complete video.
- Browser embedded video (highlights and complete)
- Highlights in Quicktime [mp4 video]
- Complete Video in Quicktime [mp4 video]
- Transcript
