Posted on 06/22/2026 5:11:59 AM PDT by DFG
Alan Greenspan, the professional economist who presided over the Federal Reserve during nearly two decades of boom and bust, died on Monday. He was 100 years old.
Dubbed "The Maestro" for deftly navigating the multi-pronged crises that buffeted the world's largest economy, Greenspan was a clarinet student who once aspired to become a professional musician. After graduating from college, the New York City native worked on Wall Street before briefly entering government service — and eventually ascended to the helm of one of the world's most powerful policy positions.
Once the late Paul Volcker vacated the Fed chairmanship in 1987, the storied Greenspan era began. He was appointed by four different presidents, en route to becoming the central bank's second-longest-serving chairman. His tenure began with the baptism of fire known as "Black Monday"— the world's first global financial pandemic that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) plummet by 22.6% in a single day, which still holds the record in percentage terms.
Greenspan's time at the Fed was punctuated by numerous peaks and troughs for the US economy and several of the world's most momentous events. Those included an economic boom that began in the 1990s, and culminated with the implosion of the internet bubble in 2000; the 1998 bailout of Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) — which itself became a byword for systemic financial risk; the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; and the invasion of Iraq.
However, Greenspan described himself as a reluctant decision-maker, a dynamic solidified by the aftermath of Sept. 11, when the Bush administration called upon his expertise to forge a policy response to the shock.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
WOW! Condolences to family and friends of Alan Greenspan.
I remember Black Monday when my former economic professor saw me, mid-day, and told me “it looks like your computers helped cause a stir, today.”
He knew me for my computer aptitude. I hadn’t yet heard of any automated involvement, but apparently he had.
Nothing of value was lost.
Show some decency. If you can’t show a modicum of respect, even though the man was Jewish, best to keep quiet.
I didn’t always agree with Greenspan, but I have to say he always tried to do the right thing for the nation. Condolences to those who knew him and his family. Perhaps you never really appreciate how good someone is, until you get a row of losers in the same position after. Greenspan did everything to avoid the financial crisis of 2008, but Congress wouldn’t listen (Freddie and Fannie and Dodd and Frank). There would have been no Obama, no Biden, if Dodd and Frank hadn’t run Fannie and Freddie over the cliff.
“…NBC News, Washington…”
“”There would have been no Obama, no Biden, if Dodd and Frank hadn’t run Fannie and Freddie over the cliff.””
***
The Democrats, America’s enemy within, tanked the economy in order to get Obama installed. They orchestrated and created the mortgage loan industry collapse so Bush/GOP would get the blame. It worked like a charm... and Barney Frank and Maxine Waters were instrumental in that destruction. Which proves that the Democrats care NOTHING for America or for Americans ... and will do ‘anything’ to gain or retain power.
That's crazy talk.
He did what Krugman literally called for, and thereby sowed a worse catastrophe:
"The basic point is that the recession of 2001 wasn’t a typical postwar slump, brought on when an inflation-fighting Fed raises interest rates and easily ended by a snapback in housing and consumer spending when the Fed brings rates back down again. This was a prewar-style recession, a morning after brought on by irrational exuberance. To fight this recession the Fed needs more than a snapback; it needs soaring household spending to offset moribund business investment. And to do that, as Paul McCulley of Pimco put it, Alan Greenspan needs to create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble." - Paul Krugman, 2002
He was also chummy with Ayn Rand.
100!? He got a good return on that investment.
His work in support of Randian economics will long outlast him.
A modicum of respect?
I get the vibe he would joing hte Einsatzkommando if he had the backing of the state.
Apparently he was a near virtuoso on clarinet and very good on saxophone, and seriously considered a musical rather than economic career. As Fed chair, he was a mixed bag - normally an inflation hawk, for some reason he decided to drop interest rates near 0 in the mid-2000s.
RIP regardless, even if you disagree with his individual decisions and policies, the man clearly had a great intellect. The comparison to Kissinger (who also made it to 100) is apt.
During his tax-paid tenure at the US Federal Reserve , Greenspan was an architect of
US macroeconomic policy, which always prompted US foreign aid tax dollars for Israel.
As well Greenspan used his tax-paid office and taxpayers’ equipment
to forge economic stabilization measures for the foreign state of Israel.
Greenspan supported efforts wrt Israeli economic integration while being paid to work for the US.
In 2001, he made public appearances at Israeli events like the Israel Policy Forum Dinner.
Greenspan focused strongly on Israeli economic
development, and strived for Israeli economic stability.
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