Does Greenspan Have the Fix for Caribbean Tourism Nations?

Former federal reserve chair, Alan Greenspan, is set to address Caribbean Tourism officials in June at a conference in Washington, D.C. But some top Caribbean analysts on Wall Street say they doubt Greenspan can really deliver a message the region can actively benefit from.

Especially since amidst a tough U.S. economy, travel abroad and to the region could suffer in the coming months. Wesley Ramjeet is CEO of the financial consulting firm Profit Planners and chair of Micro-Cap Review. To Ramjeet, “Alan Greenspan is a has-been.”

“He has no influence on policy in the U.S. so he’s basically being paid to tell you what’s not going to happen,” Ramjeet, a 20 year veteran of the financial industry said. “I could understand warren buffet but not Alan Greenspan. He’s one of the reasons we have Wall Street second guessing Ben Bernake. Having him speak to Caribbean people doesn’t make sense to me.”

Keith Bernard, credit analyst at Zigler, has attended Greenspan seminars in the past and does not see the fit of the former federal reserve chair and Caribbean tourism.

“Greenspan speaks more on macro-economics. Unless you understand “Greenspan” his speeches are pretty complex,” said Bernard.

Val Williams, senior VP at Maxim Group with over 20 years investment banking experience, insists Caribbean tourism officials must decide if they want to sell tables or really get information to push the region forward.

“Greenspan talks macro-economics. What you need is a strategist given the current situation on Wall Street and in the U.S. economy. Someone who can speak to what would be the most profitable way to push the region forward,” said Williams. “Greenspan is not that kind of guy.”

A spokesman for the CTO defended Greenspan as a guest speaker, insisting he is renowned around the world and his experience speaks for itself.

Reports indicate that Greenspan commands between $100,000 to $150,000 per hour long speeches. He is scheduled to address the annual Caribbean summit, set for Washington, D.C. from June 21-24, 2008.

The event, which replaces the annual Caribbean Week celebration in New York, is geared only for government officials, investment and financial companies and the Caribbean hotel and tourism industry officials, according to the CTO.

Greenspan is an American economist and served as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1997 to 2006.

First appointed Fed chairman by President Ronald Reagan in August 1987, he was reappointed at successive four-year intervals until retiring after a record-setting tenure on January 31, 2006, at which time he relinquished the chairmanship to Ben Bernanke.

From 2001 until his retirement from the Fed, he was increasingly criticized for some statements seen as overstepping the Fed’s traditional purview of monetary policy, and viewed by others as overly supportive of the policies of President George W. Bush, as well as for policies seen by Business Week Magazine and others as leading to a housing bubble.