Former US Fed chair Alan Greenspan dies aged 100
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The news: Alan Greenspan, the former US Federal Reserve chair who dominated global markets for nearly two decades before his legacy was clouded by the financial crisis, has died aged 100.
Greenspan died at his home in Washington on Monday local time from complications of Parkinson’s disease, his wife Andrea Mitchell said in a statement.
The context: Appointed by Ronald Regan, Greenspan led the Fed from August 1987 to January 2006 under four US presidents of both Republican and Democratic parties.
Greenspan oversaw the second-longest economic expansion in US history, a decade of growth from March 1991 to March 2001. His decision to let the economy run despite pressure to raise rates against an inflation threat that never materialised earned him rock star status.
As The New York Times noted in an obituary, his reputation rested on a mid-1990s judgment that a productivity surge would keep inflation contained. But barely two years after his 2006 departure, the US fell into a financial crisis, prompting accusations his monetary and regulatory policies had fostered the boom and bust.
“Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders’ equity, myself included, are in a state of shocked disbelief,” Greenspan told a congressional committee in 2008.
What they said: In a statement, the Federal Reserve noted Greenspan’s passing “with sadness”. “His contributions to monetary policy and economic thought left a lasting mark on this institution, on the broader field of economics, and on the country,” it said.
“He brought rigorous analytical discipline to monetary policymaking and helped establish the credibility that remains one of the Federal Reserve’s most important assets.”
His wife, Andrea Mitchell said: “He was a giant of a man who helped shape the US economy for decades under presidents of both parties, but was always honest in acknowledging his mistakes.”
The sources: The New York Times, The Financial Times
