Alan Greenspan, one of the most consequential chairs of the Federal Reserve who transformed the central bank into a more market-friendly, talkative central bank and who himself became a pop-culture fixture due to his dispassionate, arcane public persona but who also missed the growing imbalances in the housing market that led to the worst financial collapse in a century, passed away on Monday from complications related to Parkinson's disease. He was 100.
Greenspan, who served as chair of the Federal Reserve from 1987 until 2006, was nominated or renominated by four presidents, making him the second longest-serving Fed chair in history, after William McChesney Martin. Over the course of his 18 years at the head of the U.S. central bank, Greenspan's Fed was marked by a trend of deregulation in the banking industry and economic growth — as well as the "
Greenspan spoke in the technocratic language of economists, like other central bankers, but he spoke more publicly and more often, becoming the first central banker to be treated like a celebrity. His career was largely marked and bookended by soaring market manias and punishing crises. Only a few months into his chairmanship in 1987, the stock market suffered its worst one-day crash in history. From there it rose to the heights of the dot-com boom and housing bubble. The financial crisis of 2008 came after his retirement but was the result of economic conditions that built up during his stewardship.
"During his 18 years as Chairman, he guided the Federal Reserve through periods of significant economic expansion as well as periods of considerable stress. Under his leadership, the Federal Reserve achieved a sustained era of price stability that supported economic growth and helped anchor the public's confidence in the institution," the Federal Reserve said in a statement on Monday morning.
More to come.
