---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Still, one could argue—and many did—that…"
description: "\"“Still, one could argue—and many did—that Greenspan, at least, had no business being quite so shocked. Over the years, countless people had challenged ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30b/kathryn-schulz-7782_paul-krugman_still-one-could-argue-and-many-did-that_2623116.png"
---

#  Still, one could argue—and many did—that Greenspan, at…

![“Still, one could argue—and many did—that Greenspan, at least, had no business being quite so shocked. Over the years, countless people had challenged his deregulatory dogma, including (to name just a few) Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman, both Nobel Prize–winning economists, and Brooksley Born…” quote by Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30b/kathryn-schulz-7782_paul-krugman_still-one-could-argue-and-many-did-that_2623116.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30b/kathryn-schulz-7782_paul-krugman_still-one-could-argue-and-many-did-that_2623116.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30b/kathryn-schulz-7782_paul-krugman_still-one-could-argue-and-many-did-that_2623116.png)

> ““Still, one could argue—and many did—that Greenspan, at least, had no business being quite so shocked. Over the years, countless people had challenged his deregulatory dogma, including (to name just a few) Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman, both Nobel Prize–winning economists, and Brooksley Born, who was head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 1996 to 1999. Born eventually became something of a Cassandra figure for the crisis, since she repeatedly called for regulating the market for derivatives, those ultracomplex financial products that eventually helped bring down the economy. Those calls were silenced when Greenspan, along with then-Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and then-Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Arthur Levitt, took the extraordinary step of convincing Congress to pass legislation forbidding Born’s agency from taking any action for the duration of her term.””

[Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Regulators ignored warnings about complex derivatives, leading to crisis; dissenting voices were silenced.

**In simple terms:** Ignored warnings caused crisis.

Key Takeaway

Heed expert warnings to prevent systemic risk.

Themes

finance regulation risk management

Mood

critical serious

Type

analytical historical

When to use this quote

- government
- financial institutions
- investors
- policy makers

Key Concepts

cautionary tale policy failure

Questions to Reflect On

- Why are warnings often ignored?
- How can dissent be protected?

A Different Perspective

Political and economic pressures can suppress dissent.

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[Economists Brooksley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economists-brooksley-2127268/) [Greenspan Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greenspan-business-2127267/) [Krugman Nobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/krugman-nobel-2127266/) [Paul Krugman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paul-krugman-277637/) [Silenced Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silenced-greenspan-2127265/)

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