Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan testified today in Washington before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.  We suggested earlier this week that Mr. Greenspan and others who failed to foresee the crisis should simply accept responsibility and play a role in helping society learn from past mistakes in an effort to prevent similar problems from taking place in the future.  While Mr. Greenspan now admits that he was only correct “70 percent of the time”, he continues to minimize the role of monetary policy in the crisis.

In the video clip shown below, Vanguard Founder John Bogle comments on Mr. Greenspan’s “disingenuous” testimony.  Mr. Bogle looks with suspicion when policy makers say “mistakes were made”.  Instead he thinks they should say “I made mistakes”.  In general, it seems like very few people in leadership positions today are ever willing to make such a direct statement.

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