Greenspan Warns About the Long-Term Health of the US Economy

Alan Greenspan

Economic growth won’t last long-term in the United States, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told CNBC.

It's all about government entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare.


From the U.S. Senate glossary:

entitlement - A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs

“I think the real problem is over the long run, we’ve got this significant continued drain coming from entitlements, which are basically draining capital investment dollar for dollar,” he told CNBC’s Sara Eisen during a “Squawk on the Street ” interview.

“Without any major change in entitlements, entitlements are going to rise. Why? Because the population is aging. There’s no way to reverse that, and the politics of it are awful, as you well know,” Greenspan added.


While he said the economy looks “reasonably good” in the short run, he expects that over the longer term, growth “fades very dramatically.”

Greenspan nails it. And to think the emerging socialists want to dramatically increase government spending.

-RW