Oh, why can’t former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan just fade away rather than resurface every few months via an op-ed that the Financial Times or the Wall Street Journal are all-too-eager to publish because it generates buzz and attracts readers?

My own personal theory on the former Maestro’s latest musing (as detailed in this item a couple days ago) is that he’s trying to ride the “Tea Party austerity wave” in a renewed effort to rebuild an image shattered by the role he played leading up to the financial crisis.

Anyway, Howard Gold over at MarketWatch has seen fit to take another look at the connection to the Ayn Rand objectivists from 50 or 60 years ago and has a few thoughts to offer beginning with the “I found a flaw” moment of almost two years ago:

Did Greenspan channel or betray Ayn Rand?

In one of the most dramatic moments in the global financial crisis, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan testified before Congress in October 2008, just weeks after the collapse of Lehman Brothers spread fear and panic around the world.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) bluntly asked him, “Were you wrong?”

“Partially,” replied the humbled Greenspan, who once sat at the commanding heights of the world’s economy.

“Yes, I found a flaw…, [a] flaw in the model that I perceived is the critical functioning structure that defines how the world works, so to speak.”

“That’s precisely the reason I was shocked,” he continued, “because I had been going for 40 years or more with very considerable evidence that it was working exceptionally well.“

It seems that being the central bank chief of the world’s most powerful nation is about the only job where you can be wrong about the fundamental nature of your work for 40 years…

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