20 Years Later, Greenspan’s “Irrational Exuberance” Has Become Even More Irrational

20 years, to the day, after Greenspan’s iconic speech that warned of the unintended consequences of “irrational exuberance,” we find ourselves, yet again, in the midst of perhaps the largest asset bubble in history. In fact, Greenspan’s warning, previously made in a speech on Dec. 5, 1996, eerily reflects many of the same concerns surrounding the market today with low interest rates and lower risk premiums driving an unprecedented equity bubble.
‘Clearly, sustained low inflation implies less uncertainty about the future, and lower risk premiums imply higher prices of stocks and other earning assets. But how do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values, which then become subject to unexpected and prolonged contractions as they have in Japan over the past decade?’

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Dec 5, 2016.

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