Fed's Greenspan Refuses to Accept Blame for Recession; Upturn's Pace Is 'Glacial'
WASHINGTON -- While acknowledging that the pace of economic recovery "has been little more than glacial," Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan refused to take blame for the recession.</br></br>In an appearance before Congress's Joint Economic Committee, Mr. Greenspan said he couldn't think of one policy decision the Fed has made that he would like "to go back and revisit."</br></br>"If you were doing it all over again, you'd do it the same way?" asked Rep. Lee Hamilton (D., Ind.), vice chairman of the panel.</br></br>"I would -- with the knowledge we had at the particular times as things evolved," the Fed chairman replied.</br></br>Members of Congress from both parties and the Bush administration recently have intensified their criticism of the Fed for not lowering interest rates aggressively enough. The last rate reduction was made in December, and there was nothing in the chairman's remarks to indicate whether the Fed plans any further moves on interest rates.