The cult of the “Greenspan put” stemmed from the previous Fed chairman’s avowed belief that the Fed should not try to resist a sharply rising stock market, except to the extent that such a market undermines the long-term stability of prices for ordinary goods. But if the stock market collapses too quickly, the Fed should worry about a recession and react aggressively to cushion the fall.
在逐步脱离量化宽送政策方面，伯南克必须小心另外一个陷阱，那就是资产价格的意外崩溃。许多华尔街交易老手都确信量化宽松政策只不过是旧有“格林斯潘对策”的放大版。这种对“格林斯潘对策”的迷信源自于这位前美联储主席一条众所周知的理念：美联储不应尝试压制一个快速上涨的股票市场，除非市场已经发展到了危及一般商品长期价格稳定性的程度。但如果股票市场过快下跌的话，美联储应当小心衰退的可能性并使出强硬手段来缓冲下跌。