Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan has died. His wife, news correspondent Andrea Mitchell, says that he passed away at home from complications of Parkinson’s disease. Greenspan is remembered for shaping the US economy, often earning praise for his 18 years as Fed chair. ABC’s Armando Garcia reports on his legacy.
Alan Greenspan, a longtime chairman of the Federal Reserve, has died. He was 100 years old. His wife of 29 years, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, released a statement saying he passed away from complications of Parkinson’s disease, adding, “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.”
A federal chairman for 18 years, Greenspan served under four presidents until he retired in 2006. He is credited for leading the central bank during a period of historic US economic expansion. In 1996, he famously coined the term “irrational exuberance,” describing excessive optimism that inflates the price of an asset, asking how we know when such exuberance has unduly escalated asset values which then become subject to unexpected and prolonged contractions.
Greenspan guided the US economy through the stock market crash of 1987, the dot-com bubble from the late 90s to 2000, and the September 11 attacks, noting at the time that while economic activity ground to a halt, the foundations of our free society remained sound. His celebrated record took a hit when the housing market collapsed in 2008. Greenspan later acknowledged he made a mistake in allowing the nation’s banks to regulate themselves, though he also stated Congress deserved part of the blame.
The Federal Reserve today released a statement praising him for his discipline in policymaking. During his tenure, investors would often look at the color of Greenspan’s ties for clues about where the economy was heading, a practice Greenspan later dismissed as an illusion, calling it the “tie index.”
