Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve gave a speech Thursday night that echoed his famous "irrational exuberance" comment.

"The booming stock market was on the mind of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan last night, as he signaled in a New York speech that the central bank will raise interest rates again soon to keep inflation at bay and allow what is about to become the longest economic expansion in U.S. history to continue."

"Our goal, in responding to the complexity of current economic forces, is to extend the expansion by containing its imbalances and avoiding the very recession that would complete a business cycle," Greenspan told the New York Economic Club, in a much anticipated address less than three weeks before Fed policymakers next meet.

Greenspan also sent a subtle warning to Congress:

"I trust that the recent flurry of increased federal government outlays, seemingly made easier by the emerging surpluses, is an aberration. In today's environment of rapid innovation, growing unified budget surpluses can obviate at least part of the rebalancing pressures evident in marked increases in real long-term interest rates," Greenspan said.

In other words, he was warning that reducing the prospective surpluses would mean higher interest rates. He was telling Congress and the President, that they had better make sure they don't spend all the surpluses on Medicare, insurance for the children and shoring up Social Security.

It makes one wonder who is really running this country, doesn't it?

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