Alan Greenspan

Deep-pocketed bidders² battled Tuesday to win a coveted³ meeting with former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, one of a constellation⁴ of stars on offer in a charity auction⁵.

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, comedian⁶ Robin⁷ Williams, movie legend Richard Gere and skateboard star Tony Hawk⁸ were also on offer to the highest bidder¹.

A lunch with glamorous⁹ 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 rout¹⁰ on global stock markets in late February.

Bidding on the charity auction ends on April 6.