Greenspan's four lessons: an important senior Tokyo financial strategist sizes up the last...

The curtain has finally closed on the eighteen-year tenure of Chairman Alan Greenspan, and we would like to draw some lessons from the policies implemented by this great leader of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank.

FIRST LESSON. Always be ready to face an unforeseen crisis in managing monetary policy. Here's an example. Since June 2004, the Federal Reserve has been raising the fed funds rate by a quarter of a point at each FOMC meeting. Some in the markets questioned why it was necessary to create waves on flat waters against the backdrop of a looming economic slowdown. <