Danielle DiMartino at the Dallas News interviewed a professor on Alan Greenspans role in the housing bubble. "Ravi Batra is not one to mince words. Take the title of the latest of the 15 books he's written in his 33-year career as an economist: Greenspan's Fraud. Though the book was greeted with skepticism, it has gained greater acceptance as many of the possibilities it raises tiptoe closer to reality."

"Q: Let's start with the title of your latest book. A: The book focused not just on monetary policy, but also on many other areas over which Alan Greenspan had influence, such as Social Security. The idea of creating a trust fund for the baby boomers with guaranteed benefits came about in 1981 with his active support. But Greenspan knew in advance there would be no cash to fund those accounts. By April 1983, he was saying we needed to balance the budget by cutting Social Security benefits."

"In totally contradicting himself, he deceived the public into paying higher payroll taxes. People don't blame him, but that's where the idea came from."

"Q: How else has he affected future generations? A: Greenspan created a huge trade deficit. Here again, though, people don't blame him. They just think it's globalization. He pushed for the deregulation of the free flow of capital across countries, but the result was that the U.S. dollar would not fall anymore in response to trade deficits. In the past, the dollar would quickly eliminate trade deficits."

"Q: So far, it would appear that the trade deficit, while at record levels, does not pose a threat to the U.S. economy. Is there a tipping point at which the deficit will matter?"

"A: The tipping point will be the bursting of the housing bubble. Much of the housing bubble has been financed by foreign purchases of mortgage-backed securities. The problem is, many of these loans have been backed by a fraud of their own, unqualified buyers have been given loans by the mortgage industry because the lenders then pass along the risk into the mortgage-backed securities market."

"Q: Can we be sure it is a housing bubble? Many in the real estate industry are predicting a classic soft landing."

"A: Bubble cycles can last seven to eight years, with the unraveling typically beginning in the fifth year. The housing bubble started in 2001 when Greenspan panicked and started slashing interest rates at a fast pace. Five years from then is 2006, and what are we seeing today? A slowdown, which is starting right on schedule."

"Next year, we'll have bigger problems as house prices fall, especially in the hot markets. Finally, in 2008, the real housing crunch will come, with price declines in much of the nation. The worst implication is that foreign investors in mortgage-backed securities will be spooked for fear they'll lose their principal. It's one of my biggest fears."

"Q: So what's the solution? Is there a way out? A: There is, and it's consistent with free trade. I would propose a dual exchange rate system like those in Japan and China. If we could fix our export exchange rate, our exports would rise sharply as the prices of our goods fell overseas. We would let all international transactions continue to occur at the free-market dollar rate."

"This would not only rebuild our manufacturing base, it would reduce the trade deficit sharply. We have to bear in mind that every empire, from the Romans to the British, has fallen because of a huge trade deficit."