Concerning the state of the economy, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says, "[The] first and most important issue to recognize in the United States ... is that the level of uncertainty about the very long-term future is far greater than at any time I particularly remember." He adds, "[T]he extent of government intervention has been so horrendous that businesses cannot basically decide what to do about the future." Obama's fundamental goal is to break the back of free enterprise.