One expensive breakfast with Greenspan

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Deep-pocketed bidders battled Tuesday to win a coveted meeting with former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, one of a constellation of stars on offer in a charity auction.

The website www.charitybuzz.com launched its latest auction to raise money for the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, a non-profit group that provides funding to human-rights causes.

Face-time with CNN talk-show host Larry King, comedian Robin Williams, movie legend Richard Gere and skateboard star Tony Hawk were also on offer to the highest bidder.

A lunch with glamorous former CIA spy Valerie Plame and her husband Joseph Wilson was another attraction for those curious about two people center-stage of a scandal involving American government and Iraq war.

Breakfast or tea with Greenspan and his wife, NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell, carried an estimated value of 5,000 dollars.

But that would be small change to any Wall Street type keen to get an insight into the thinking of a man who, despite retiring from the US central bank a year ago, still has the power to move markets.

A warning from Greenspan that the United States could be struggling to stave off a recession later this year contributed to a rout on global stock markets in late February.

在本周二的一个慈善拍卖中，有钱人竞相出价，以赢得与前任美联储主席阿兰·格林斯潘等名人面对面的机会。

www.charitybuzz.com 慈善网站开展此项最新拍卖活动的目的是，为专向人权事业提供资金支持的非赢利组织肯尼迪纪念基金会筹款。

除格林斯潘外，出价最高者还可获得与CNN脱口秀主持人拉里·金、喜剧演员罗宾·威廉姆斯、影坛传奇人物李察·基尔和滑板之星托尼·霍克会面的机会。

与魅力十足的前美国中情局女特工瓦勒里·普莱姆和其丈夫约瑟夫·威尔森共进午餐也是此次拍卖的内容之一，这对那些想了解与两人有关的涉及美国政府和伊拉克战争丑闻的人来说无疑又是一个诱惑。

若想与格林斯潘和他的夫人NBC记者安德里亚·米歇尔共进早餐或一起喝茶估计得花5000美元。

但这对于那些想从格林斯潘嘴里套点口风的金融界人士来说，这点花费不过是小菜一碟。虽然格林斯潘已从美联储退休一年，但他对世界金融市场的影响犹存。

不久前，格林斯潘预测美国经济今年年末可能将面临衰退，这引起了2月底全球股市的大跌。

此次慈善拍卖将持续至4月6日。