Alan Greenspan is increasingly reminding me of the grandfather who supposedly fought in every war since the Crimea and now can’t stop giving advice on your driving from the backseat. Unfortunately this may mean that Ben Bernanke is destined to be the Fed Chairman solely remembered for following Alan Greenspan.

Greenspan supposedly left the job in 2006; however he has rarely been far from the limelight since. A fascinating autobiography, a never ending series of speeches and interviews have caused many to wonder if he realises he is the ex-Fed Chairman.

On Friday in the United States, Alan Greenspan was at it again. This time a pre-recorded interview on the National Public Radio in the US saw Greenspan say the odds of a recession in the US are rising. In typical erudite Greenspan fashion he said “Indeed, it’s like someone who has an immune system that’s not working very well is subject to all sorts of diseases and the economy at this level of growth is subject to all sorts of shocks.”

Poor old Bernanke. Everything he does rightly or wrongly seems to get cross-checked against what his predecessor thinks in a way that you do not see with political leaders in the United States. Bill Clinton for instance has been very careful not to weigh in too much on the Bush Presidency, following Bush 1 avoiding weighing in on Clinton and Reagan on Bush. Carter has been vocal, but it is more reflective of his insecurity that his Presidency is generally seen as being worse than Bush 2.

Bernanke finds himself in uncharted waters with rising US inflationary pressures, a weakening economy, a US housing market meltdown and the sub-prime debacle. Greenspan faced his own disasters during his tenure including the ’87 crash and the more recent US recession. One gets the impression however, that it is the breadth of problems that Bernanke is facing, which places him in an even more difficult position than Greenspan.

Unfortunately for Bernanke, he also has a very vocal backseat driver who clearly wishes he was still the one doing the driving.