As the curtains come down on the Alan Greenspan era at the Federal Reserve, critics and hagiographers are lining up their respective arguments in assessing the maestro's legacy. Sceptics suggest that the praise heaped on Greenspan has been greatly exaggerated and that the most costly consequence of his policies - a painful adjustment in the United States to a house price bubble and growing indebtedness of households - will materialise in the years to come.

Some critics question the Fed's role in