Greenspan Says Obama Admin is Too "Active" in Economy

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FOX News:

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says the Obama Administration's "activism" in handling economic affairs is hampering what could otherwise be a robust recovery from the recent recession.

Greenspan, speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations Tuesday, argues that companies sitting on stockpiles of cash are unwilling to make long-term capital investments because of increased government regulation and hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus spending that have "crowded out" private investment opportunities. It's a situation he says closely models the trends during the Great Depression.

"There's very much [a] similar fear of what government will do," he said.

This hesitancy from corporate America, Greenspan claims, has kept unemployment rates at increased levels not seen in several decades and led to a "disappointingly tepid" economic recovery.

Greenspan's comments replicated the observations he made in a recent commentary for the journal "International Finance." He asserts that over past two years, lawmakers in Washington have been too keen-or active--in trying to legislate the economy.

"I conclude that the current government activism is hampering what should be a broad-based robust economic recovery, driven in significant part by the positive wealth effect of a buoyant U.S. and global stock market," Greenspan wrote.