Alan Greenspan the Economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank for Four Presidential administrations has passed away. I am incredibly saddened to learn of Mr. Greenspan’s spirit moving on from all of us. As we remember Mr. Greenspan let’s reflect on some thoughts by others who he has worked with and how his Monetary Policy Decisions will be etched in United States History.
Sadly with the Divisive Political media making sure most Americans are divided on the issues, let’s remember he was the Federal Reserve Chairman. As Federal Reserve Chair His Monetary Policies were not to be selected based on the Political influence. But rather on the Data and the Economy. His position as Federal Chairman was not secured by Undue Influence. But rather on Economics and Law.
The chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the head of the Federal Reserve—the central bank of the United States—and is the active executive officer of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The chair presides at meetings of the Board.[2]
The chair serves a four-year term after being nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate; the officeholder serves concurrently as a member of the Board of Governors. The chair may serve multiple terms, subject to re-nomination and confirmation each time; William McChesney Martin (1951–1970) was the longest serving chair, with Alan Greenspan (1987–2006) second.
It’s truly impressive he was able to serve as Chairman for Four Presidential Administrations. I do believe most would agree Greenspan’s tenure is impressive.
Who was Alan Greenspan?
Alan Greenspan was an American economist who served as the 13th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. Serving many Presidential Administrations for both Democrat and Republican, He worked as a private adviser and provided consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC.
NPR generously rememberd Mr. Greenspan today with this click to listen.
Alan Greenspan (March 6, 1926 – June 22, 2026) was an American economist who served as the Federal Reserve’s 13th chairman from 1987 to 2006. He worked as a private adviser and provided consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC.
First nominated to the Federal Reserve by President Ronald Reagan in August 1987, Greenspan was reappointed at successive four-year intervals until retiring on January 31, 2006, after the second-longest tenure in the position, behind only William McChesney Martin.[1] President George W. Bush appointed Ben Bernanke as his successor. Greenspan came to the Federal Reserve Board from a consulting career. Although he was subdued in his public appearances, favorable media coverage raised his profile to a point that several observers likened him to a “rock star”.[2][3][4] Democratic leaders of Congress criticized him for politicizing his office because of his support for Social Security privatization[5][6] and tax cuts.[7]
Many have argued that the “easy-money” policies of the Fed during Greenspan’s tenure, including the practice known as the “Greenspan put“, were a leading cause of the dot-com bubble and subprime mortgage crisis (the latter occurring within a year of his leaving the Fed), which, said The Wall Street Journal, “tarnished his reputation”.[8][9] Yale economist Robert Shiller argues that “once stocks fell, real estate became the primary outlet for the speculative frenzy that the stock market had unleashed”.[10] Greenspan argued that the housing bubble was not a result of low-interest short-term rates but rather a worldwide phenomenon caused by the progressive decline in long-term interest rates – a direct consequence of the relationship between high savings rates in the developing world and its inverse in the developed world.[11]
It’s incredibly Sad that I must share the news I know will affect many in the Investment Management Space. Bulwark’s Catherine Rampell wrote elgantly,
“ALAN GREENSPAN, THE FAMOUSLY inscrutable long-time chair of the Federal Reserve, died on Monday at the ripe old age of 100. And just as his signature style was coming back in vogue, too, thanks to our new Fed chair, Kevin Warsh.”
In preparing and Visiting Many Articles Remembering Mr. Greenspan, I discovered this piece on the Brookings University website.
Donald Kohn of Brookings University wrote today on the news,
“I first got to know Alan Greenspan when he came to the Federal Reserve Board for briefings before his confirmation hearing in the summer of 1987. We worked closely together for his 18 years as chairman, especially during the first 13 of those when I was in charge of staff work on monetary policy and interacted with him every day, often multiple times. He liked to call me his mentor, and I did school him on the peculiar tribal practices of the Fed, including its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) where monetary policy is made. But in truth, much more learning flowed from Alan to me than vice versa.
In his discussions with staff members and fellow policymakers, Greenspan encouraged them to voice new ideas and analytical insights and to find weak points in the hypotheses he was putting forward. But those ideas, insights, and challenges needed to be backed by evidence and solid reasoning. Once when he asked me what I thought we should be doing on policy, I started my response with, “My gut tells me…” He quickly cut me off: “That’s not your gut, Don, that’s your experience and knowledge.” We had a wonderful working relationship, in which we each felt free to tell the other when he was wrong—each of us no doubt thinking he had more opportunities for that than the other.
When he took office as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board in August 1987, he realized that he and the Fed were unprepared for financial crises that might emerge, and he had staff at the Board and the New York Fed prepare a book of contingency plans for a variety of possible emergencies. On October 19, 1987, one of the contingencies in the book materialized—a sharp fall in equity prices (in fact, 22.6% in one day) that threatened the financial and economic system. To tell the truth, I don’t recall consulting that book on October 19, but Alan took the steps required to contain the damage to the financial system and minimize the effects of the crash on the economy. He supported Jerry Corrigan, then president of the New York Fed, who was (forcefully) persuading banks and securities firms that it was in their collective interest to keep credit and payments flowing and not to hoard liquidity. And Greenspan backed that up by making sure the Fed itself was meeting any increased liquidity needs of the financial system, issuing a statement that said: “The Federal Reserve, consistent with its responsibilities as the nation’s central bank, affirmed today its readiness to serve as a source of liquidity to support the economic and financial system;” that statement was often credited with helping to calm markets and end the panic. Alan was at a central banker meeting in Basel, Switzerland, on 9/11, and it took him some time to get back, but, under Roger Ferguson’s leadership, we followed the playbook he had established.”
Editor’s note:
Don Kohn, a senior fellow and holder of the Robert V. Roosa Chair in International Economics in Economic Studies at Brookings, is a 40-year veteran of the Federal Reserve; he served as a member of the Federal Reserve Board from 2002 to 2010, and as vice chair from 2006 to 2010. Read the full article here.
As much as this does sadden me as a writer to have to report Alan Greenspan has passed from complications of Parkinson’s, I have to conclude that Mr. Greenspan’s Monetary policy will live on and his Outsized Personality will live on as well. We wish you well Mr. Greenspan. R.I.P 1926-2026
Alan Greenspan
A final send off to Mr. Greenspan was in order. Thank you for visiting.
JS.