Bidding War Begins Over Greenspan Memoirs

[george]

Bidding war begins over Greenspan memoirs [/g]

Irrational exuberance has overtaken the publishing industry amid reports that bidding for the memoirs of Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, has reached $5m (£3.4m).

The legendary central banker has hired a Washington-based lawyer, Robert Barnett, to tout his book. Mr Greenspan has chosen wisely.

Mr Barnett negotiated an $8m advance for Hillary Clinton, the junior senator from New York and possible presidential candidate, with Simon & Schuster. He also clinched a $12m deal for the former president Bill Clinton's memoir, published by Random House imprint Alfred A Knopf.

Mr Barnett is already talking up his client as if he is the best thing since sliced bread.

"Alan Greenspan was one of the most revered and successful public figures of our time, and there are many who are anxiously awaiting what he wants to say," Mr Barnett told Reuters.

Be that as it may, Mr Greenspan will have to show that he can turn arcane financial matters into bestselling material. The back-and-forth during Federal Reserve meetings may fascinate financial types, but it is hard to see Mr Greenspan - for all his renown - threatening Dan Brown in the bestseller lists.

Publishers will be taking a major punt on Mr Greenspan, who became notorious for the impenetrable nature of his economic pronouncements. His appearances before the US congress invariably left commentators scratching their heads as to what he really meant.

Mr Greenspan's one memorable phrase "irrational exuberance", to describe the bull market the 1990s, was buried in a rambling, 4,000-word speech.

Unless he comes up with biting portraits of the great and the good with whom he rubbed shoulders over the years, including Ronald Reagan, the first George Bush, Bill Clinton and the present George Bush, the book could be a giant sleeping pill.

Still, Mr Greenspan was the world's top central banker at critical moments. Only weeks after he was appointed came the 1987 October market crash, followed by the Asian financial crisis, internet mania and the attacks of September 11.

Charlotte Abbott, a senior editor from Publishers Weekly, said a $1m advance would not be unreasonable, but an advance of $5m or $7m would be hard to justify.

"While he's a figure of great renown and interest ... it's not like he's had a particularly interesting or dynamic life that people are dying to read about, or that there's some explosive secrets that he's going to reveal about how the Fed is run," she explained.

Mr Greenspan, who was head of the Fed for over 18 years, has lost no time cashing in on his celebrity. He has raised eyebrows on Wall Street for speaking on the economy at private events just a week after leaving the central bank, charging more than $100,000 for an appearance. But he agreed to become an "honorary adviser" to the chancellor Gordon Brown for no pay.

--Guardian UK, 2006-02-14

[johnnyk]

george,

what does this have to do with business in thailand?