Alan Greenspan

Alan Greenspan was born in New York City on March 6, 1926, and grew up in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, where he was a math prodigy.⁠[1][2]

As a youth he studied music at the Juilliard School, which he left without finishing; as a teenager he played clarinet and saxophone professionally in the Henry Jerome band, alongside Stan Getz.⁠[1][2]

Greenspan received a bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, in 1948 and a master’s degree in 1950 from New York University. His first job, in 1948, was at the National Industrial Conference Board, analyzing demand for steel, aluminum and copper.⁠[1][3]

In the early 1950s he pursued doctoral studies at Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University, formally Columbia University in the City of New York, is a private research university in New York City and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1754 by royal charter from King George II as King's College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in New York State and the fifth oldest in the United States. It was renamed Columbia College in 1784 and adopted the university name and moved to Manhattan's Morningside Heights in 1896. It has 17 schools and four affiliated colleges, with 35,978 students enrolled in fall 2025. Legal scholar Jennifer L. Mnookin became president on July 1, 2026.Open the full entry under Arthur F. Burns, later chairman of the Federal Reserve, leaving in 1953. In 1952 he met the philosopher Ayn Rand and became part of her inner circle.⁠[3][1]

The economic consulting firm Townsend-Greenspan & Co., Inc. was formed in New York City in 1953, and after William Townsend’s death in 1958 Greenspan became its president and chief owner. He served as its chairman and president from 1954 to 1974 and from 1977 to 1987.⁠[1][3]

He later received a Ph.D. in economics from New York University, and he served as a corporate director of companies including Alcoa, J.P. Morgan & Co. and Mobil Corporation.⁠[3]

Greenspan was sworn in as President Gerald FordGerald FordGerald Ford (1913–2006) was an American politician who represented Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1973 and became House minority leader in 1965. In 1973 he became the first vice president appointed under the 25th Amendment, and after Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 he served as the 38th president of the United States until 1977.Open the full entry’s chief economic adviser in 1974 and served as chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers from 1974 to 1977.⁠[2][3]

In 1981 Congress and the President appointed the National Commission on Social Security Reform to study Social Security and make recommendations, with Greenspan as chairman; it is often called the “Greenspan Commission.” Its report, issued in January 1983, became the basis for the 1983 Social Security Amendments.⁠[4][3]

He also served on President Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganRonald Reagan (1911–2004) was an American politician and actor who worked as a radio sports announcer and film actor before serving as governor of California from 1967 to 1975 and as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989.Open the full entry’s Economic Policy Advisory Board, as a consultant to the Congressional Budget Office, and on several presidential commissions and task forces.⁠[3]

President Ronald Reagan appointed Greenspan to succeed Paul Volcker, and on August 11, 1987, he took the oath of office as a member and chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, filling an unexpired governor’s term; his Federal Reserve district was New York.⁠[1][5][3]

Two months later, on Black Monday, October 19, 1987, the Dow fell 22.6%. Greenspan acted quickly to ensure market liquidity, pledging to supply enough money to the financial system, and helped steady the markets.⁠[2][3]

The ten-year economic boom that began in March 1991 took place during Greenspan’s tenure, and the Federal Reserve History biography notes that many credit him with facilitating the longest official U.S.United StatesThe United States is a federal country in North America made up of 50 states, the District of Columbia as the seat of government, and territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam; its capital is Washington, D.C. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted a resident population of 331,449,281, and the 435 seats of the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states on the basis of the census.Open the full entry economic expansion. He was reappointed as a governor in 1992 and served five terms as chairman, appointed by four presidents.⁠[2][3][5]

On December 5, 1996, his remark about “irrational exuberance,” suggesting that stock prices were too high, unsettled markets.⁠[2]

During the Asian financial crisis of 1997–1998 he helped arrange an emergency loan to Thailand and persuaded U.S. banks to roll over short-term loans to South Korea. In the late 1990s, alongside officials of the Bill ClintonBill ClintonBill Clinton (born 1946) is an American politician and lawyer, a Democrat who served as attorney general and governor of Arkansas and as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001.Open the full entry administration, he opposed federal oversight of over-the-counter derivatives, blocking efforts by the regulator Brooksley Born. His tenure also included two recessions and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.⁠[6][2][3]

Greenspan’s term as a governor expired on January 31, 2006, ending his chairmanship just short of his 80th birthday, after 18 years as chairman. He then founded Greenspan Associates, LLC, an economic consulting firm in Washington, D.C.⁠[5][2][3]

Greenspan published his memoir, “The Age of Turbulence,” in 2007. Critics partly blamed his easy-money and deregulation policies for the financial crisis and the Great Recession of 2007–2009; he later acknowledged that he had been wrong to assume banks could largely regulate themselves, saying “I made a mistake.”⁠[3][2][6]

In 2013 he published “The Map and the Territory,” defending himself against blame for the 2008 crisis.⁠[2]

Greenspan died on June 22, 2026, at the age of 100; his death was announced by his wife, NBCNBCNBC (National Broadcasting Company) is an American national commercial broadcast television network. It was founded by RCA in 1926, began as a radio network and later developed television. With ABC and CBS it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks; it passed to General Electric with RCA in 1986, merged with Universal to form NBCUniversal in 2004, has been controlled by Comcast since 2011, and is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry News correspondent Andrea Mitchell.⁠[2][6][7]

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued a statement the same day saying that under his leadership the Federal Reserve achieved a sustained era of price stability that supported economic growth, and extending its deepest condolences to Andrea Mitchell and his family.⁠[8]

Greenspan met Andrea Mitchell in 1984 and married her after a 12-year courtship; the couple had no children.⁠[6]

Greenspan received the French Legion of Honour in 2000 and was made an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002.⁠[1]

On November 9, 2005, President George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge W. Bush (born 1946) is an American politician and Republican who worked in the energy business and was a part owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team before becoming the 46th governor of Texas in 1995 and serving as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009.Open the full entry presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, saying that he “is a believer in economic freedom, open and flexible markets, and boundless human creativity” and had applied those principles in his 18 years as chairman “with consistency, with calm, and with wisdom.”⁠[9]

Federal Reserve System: Official website: https://www.federalreserve.gov/ (opens in a new window).⁠[5]