Alan Greenspan Shock Quotations

The more flexible an economy, the greater its ability to self-correct after inevitable, often unanticipated disturbances, ... The impressive performance of the U.S. economy over the past couple of decades, despite shocks that in the past would have surely produced marked economic contraction, offers the clearest evidence of the benefits of increased market flexibility.

The shock of September 11, by markedly raising the degree of uncertainty about the future, has the potential to result, for a time, in pronounced disengagement from future commitments,

It's too soon in the fourth quarter to make very many judgments, but despite the fact that we clearly have been shocked by the tragedy of September 11, there is no evidence at this stage from the data we have to date that there will be a decline in the fourth quarter,

Although the business cycle has not disappeared, flexibility has made the economy more resilient to shocks and more stable overall during the past couple of decades,

The economy suffered significant shocks in late summer and early autumn,

The impressive performance of the U.S. economy over the past couple of decades, despite shocks that in the past would have produced marked economic contractions, offers the clearest evidence of the benefits of increased market flexibility,