Who Is The Maestro?

That's a tortured allusion, for which I apologize. John Fund writes about Former Fed Chairman Greenspan, Ayn Rand, and the upcoming movie. I don't know, how would you segue that?

Fans of Ayn Rand's influential novel "Atlas Shrugged" have waited half a century for the book to reach the big screen. The 1200-page tale of capitalist heroes and altruistic villains, first published 50 years ago next month, now looks destined to become a big-budget Hollywood production.

Variety reports that Lionsgate is planning an early 2008 start for shooting, which will be directed by Vadim Perelman ("House of Sand and Fog") and feature Angelina Jolie in the starring role. Mr. Perelman will work from a script prepared by Randall Wallace, the writer who penned the screenplay for the epic "Braveheart" film starring Mel Gibson.

"Atlas Shrugged," a favorite among libertarians and their ilk, has faced many obstacles in being turned into celluloid, not least of which is the political message, which exalts the primacy of the individual. That's a big contrast with the It-Takes-a-Village crowd that predominates in Hollywood.

But the film will certainly not lack for powerful fans. Alan Greenspan, the retired head of the Federal Reserve, in his youth was a member of Rand's inner circle for some 20 years and was one of the few people allowed to read drafts of "Atlas Shrugged" while it was being written.

In his new memoir "The Age of Turbulence," out this week, Mr. Greenspan reveals details about his friendship with Rand, noting that he would often read her writings during breaks when he was playing sets as a jazz clarinetist in New York in the 1950s. Mr. Greenspan never repudiated his early affiliation with Rand's philosophy of undiluted free markets, even when Democratic senators would attack it as "a timber wolf mentality." But Mr. Greenspan also says that he understands that government is the art of the possible, not the pure. "My goal is to move things in the right direction, recognizing the constraints that our system places on any one actor," he once told me.

I suspect Mr. Greenspan reveals more of what he would have liked really to have done in government in his new book. Naturally, liberal reporters have given wide play to his remarks condemning the failure of Republicans, including President Bush, to cut government spending and his belief that the GOP deserved to lose control of Congress in 2006 as a result. In an interview with the Journal today, he also alludes to his disappointment with the protectionist, anti-growth politics of the current Democratic Party. For a complete and coherent view of Mr. Greenspan's Randian outlook, readers would do best to turn to his book.

Posted by John Kranz at September 17, 2007 1:43 PM