Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan can't escape his responsibilities for the global economy.
After a speech to the National Association for Business Economics last week, Kathryn M. Eickhoff, president of Eickhoff Economics Inc., New York, and past president of the group, gave Mr. Greenspan a tape recording of "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."
Mr. Greenspan ad-libbed the 40-minute address and poked fun at overly gloomy press accounts of the economy. "If you read the newspapers in the morning, which are filled with all the awful stories of what is happening, one gets the impression that the economy has collapsed and we might as well all go home and go fishing," Mr. Greenspan quipped.
Lawrence Connell, former chairman of the National Credit Union Administration, is moving to Budapest on Oct. 19 as a senior Treasury Department adviser on privatization and banking reform in transitional economies.
Mr. Connell is resigning as co-chairman of the Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee, the group of lawyers and academics who meet here quarterly to expound on policy issues. Robert E. Litan, director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution, will be the new co-chairman. Also leaving the Shadow Committee is Neil A. Doherty, a Wharton School professor of insurance and risk management. The committee has three new members: Scott E. Harrington of the University of South Carolina, Jonathan R. Macey of Cornell University, and Hal S. Scott of Harvard University.
To present a united front for financial reform legislation, lobbyists for the insurance, securities, and banking industries trekked up to Capitol Hill together last week.
Peter L. Blocklin from the American Bankers Association teamed with Robert A. Rusbuldt from the Independent Insurance Agents of America, Steve Judge of the Securities Industry Association, and Philmore B. Anderson of the American Council of Life Insurance.
The team called on Sen. Don Nickles on Tuesday. Surprised by a visit from longtime foes, the Oklahoma Republican said he "had to check my schedule twice" to make sure it was right, according to Mr. Rusbuldt. "Nickles asked us, 'Is this a marriage or a one-night stand?'" Mr. Rusbuldt recalled.
