All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace Part 1 of 3

TITLE: Love and Power
In the first episode, Curtis traces the effects of Ayn Rand's ideas on American financial markets, particularly via the influence on #Alan #Greenspan.
Ayn Rand moved to New York and set up a reading group called The Collective where they considered her work. On advice from a friend, Greenspan (then a logical positivist) joined The Collective.

When published, although critically savaged, Rand's Objectivist ideas were popular, and influenced people working in the technology sector of California. The Californian Ideology, that computer networks could:
- measure - control - stabilise societies - remove political control
People would work only for their own happiness, a utopian belief that became widespread in Silicon Valley.

Greenspan entered government in the 70s, and became Chairman of the Federal Reserve. In 1992, he visited the newly elected Bill Clinton. He persuaded him to let the markets grow, cut taxes, and to let the markets stabilise themselves with the help of computer technology, to create the New economy. This involved using computer models to predict risks and hedge against them, in accordance with the Californian Ideology.