Sometimes the news media produces really shocking news items. Who could for example have imagined this: Alan Greenspan says he thinks credit expansion is a good thing, particularly praising mortgage loans and installment loans. I am sure everyone else is as surprised as I am. Maybe that explains why he has for years held real short-term interest rates at negative levels. One can only guess what more similarly shocking news could follow: maybe big agriculture will be revealed as supporting farm subsidies or maybe the teachers’ union will say they favor higher government spending on education.