by Calculated Risk on 9/13/2007 12:51:00 PM

From the WSJ: ‘60 Minutes’: Greenspan Praises Bernanke

Greenspan says he knew about the questionable subprime lending tactics that gave loans to homebuyers and investors with low adjustable interest rates that could rise precipitously, but not the severe economic consequences they posed. “While I was aware a lot of these practices were going on, I had no notion of how significant they had become until very late,” he tells Stahl. “I really didn’t get it until very late in 2005 and 2006.”

And from October 2006:

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the "worst may well be over" for the U.S. housing industry that's suffering its worst downturn in more than a decade.

I hate to pick on Greenspan (too easy of a target), but it was his job to know about the loose lending practices. And no matter how he tries to rewrite history, Greenspan didn't "get it" even in October of 2006.