The Wingspan of Alan Greenspan


It comes as no surprise that the media has fallen in lockstep with the promotional campaign for Alan Greenspan‘s latest memoir, The Age of Turbulence. Of course, the former Federal Reserve chairman has done his fair share to give the story wings, beginning with a bombshell appearance on 60 Minutes, an interview about Saddam’s oil fields with Bob Woodward and a cover story interview with Newsweek (pictured here) where Greenspan strikes a somewhat schoolgirlish pose. But two items in the New York Times might be the most compelling stories to take flight: David Leonhart’s book review focuses on Greenspan’s early days as a jazz player, and a piece in last week’s Business section, “The Literature of Capitalism,” examines the work of Greenspan’s friend and mentor, Ayn Rand, specifically the novel Atlas Shrugged, Rand’s “glorification of the right of individuals to live entirely for their own interest.”