Maestro — Chapter 11

1. 1. Alan Blinder resigned as Fed vice chairman because he felt Greenspan systematically undermined him and excluded him from decision-making.
2. 2. Felix Rohatyn sought the vice chairmanship but faced opposition from Greenspan and Senate Republicans, ultimately withdrawing.
3. 3. Clinton wanted Rohatyn to spur a national debate on growth versus inflation, but the nomination failed due to political and institutional resistance.
4. 4. Alice Rivlin reluctantly accepted the vice chair nomination after Clinton argued it was crucial for his reelection and for balancing Greenspan with Democrats.
5. 5. Greenspan used a back-of-the-envelope formula to argue that productivity was rising despite official data showing stagnation, because profits were up while prices were stable.
6. 6. Fed staff economists Slifman and Corrado produced a study showing that service-sector productivity had allegedly declined for two decades, which Greenspan used to argue the data were flawed.
7. 7. At the September 1996 FOMC meeting, Greenspan convinced the committee to hold rates steady, despite pressure to hike, by presenting his productivity evidence.
8. 8. Janet Yellen provided a theoretical memo supporting Greenspan's 'traumatized worker' hypothesis, linking job insecurity to lower wage pressure and higher productivity.
9. 9. Greenspan's 'irrational exuberance' speech in December 1996 warned that stock market valuations might be unsustainably high, causing a sharp but temporary market drop.
10. 10. Greenspan and Rubin were deeply worried about the stock market's rise but felt constrained from acting because the White House viewed the bull market as a political asset.
11. 11. Greenspan married Andrea Mitchell in April 1997 after a long relationship, with a private ceremony performed by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.