No "real estate bubble" according to Greenspan -- record household borrowing not a problem Martin Crutsinger, Associated Press The record level of debt being carried by American households and soaring home prices do not appear to represent serious threats to the U.S. economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Tuesday. However, while the Fed Chairman also noted that high personal Bankruptcy levels were a concern because they indicated "pockets of distress," most U.S. consumers "appear able to calibrate their borrowing and spending to minimize financial difficulties." In a speech before America's Community Bankers, an organization representing smaller banks, Greenspan played down worries about the effects of creeping debt-to-income levels and steep increases in home prices in recent years. Some economists have expressed concerns that the big rise in home prices could represent a bubble that may deflate just as the stock market did in the Spring of 2000. Clinton/Dot.Com hangover anyone?