Former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan Dies at 100

Former federal reserve chairman Allen Greenspan died at 100 at his home from complications of Parkinson’s disease.

He served as Fed chairman of the US Federal reserve from 1987 to January 2006, making him the second longest serving chairman in history. He became a leading figure in global finance, as well as greatly influencing the course of US monetary history during his 19 year tenure.

Guiding the Fed Through Some Serious Events

Greenspan was named federal chair by former president Ronald Reagan in 1987. He presided over the longest uninterrupted expansion, lasting from March 1991 to 2001, a decade without any GDP decline.

He also helped the economy through the 1987 stock market crash, 1990 recession period and a series of financial crisis in Asia and Russia. He also navigated through dot com collapse and the fallout from attacks of September 11. 

His management of the market crash in October 1987 won grudging media praise, and helped pin down his status as one of the world’s great central bankers.

Known as the US Fed ‘Maestro’

The 1990s were a time of vigorous growth and low inflation in the US economy, and Greenspan was named the Federal Reserve’s “maestro.”

In 1996 he famously coined the term “irrational exuberance” in financial markets. Investors and economists, people around the world, backed him and his speeches and congressional testimony. Before switching to economics and public policy, Greenspan studied music at the Juilliard School.

The legacy of Greenspan and the Financial Crisis

Debates over the role of Alan Greenspan in the 2008 financial crisis remain central to how historians evaluate his career today. Although he received universal praise during his Fed years, his record began to be questioned after the 2007-2009 global financial crisis.

His support for financial deregulation and low interest rates was seen as contributing factors in the housing bubble and financial crisis. Greenspan told lawmakers in 2008 that he was “shocked” that banks had engaged in what seemed to be a practice of taking risks that endangered their own survival. Even so, Greenspan remains one of the most influential people in modern economic history. 

Source: Reuters 

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