Greenspan Isn't Looking for Inflation Clues in Commodity Prices

Alan Greenspan weighing in on commodities prices -- sounds like a conversational cocktail that would cure insomnia in a flash.

But in the second go-round of his monetary policy report to Congress, the Federal Reserve chairman dished -- in his inimitable style -- about what commodities prices mean for the inflation landscape as well as for the economic outlook. And the exchange gave investors some insight on just what Greenspan thinks of commodity prices as inflation indicators.

But the main thing these lagging prices illustrate is how the economy remains in the doldrums, despite the best efforts of the Federal Reserve to boost demand. Critics of the Fed, and there are many, believe it means the Fed isn't supplying enough liquidity to the economy. Others, such as The New York Times, surmise that the Fed's lost it's power to move the economy. ...