Alan Greenspan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 13th Chairman of the Federal Reserve | |
| In office August 11, 1987 – January 31, 2006 | |
| President | |
| Deputy | |
| Preceded by | Paul Volcker |
| Succeeded by | Ben Bernanke |
| Member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors | |
| In office August 11, 1987 – January 31, 2006 | |
| President |
|
| Preceded by | Paul Volcker |
| Succeeded by | Ben Bernanke |
| 10th Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers | |
| In office September 4, 1974 – January 20, 1977 | |
| President | Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | Herbert Stein |
| Succeeded by | Charles Schultze |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 6, 1926 New York City, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouses | |
| Education | |
Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as the 13th chairman of the Federal Reserve 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 argues 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.
- ^ Friedman, Benjamin M. (March 20, 2008). "Chairman Greenspan's Legacy". New York Review of Books. Vol. 55, no. 4. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016.
- ^ Aversa, Jeannine (March 5, 2005). "Alan Greenspan Enjoys Rock Star Renown". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
- ^ Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose (September 17, 2007). "Greenspan Was More a Rock Star than a Feared Fed Sage". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
- ^ Stahl, Leslie (February 11, 2009). "Greenspan Defends Low Interest Rates". CBS News. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
- ^ Woodruff, Judy; Reid, Harry (March 3, 2005). "Inside Politics". Washington DC: CNN. Archived from the original (Transcript of interview) on July 10, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
Judy, you understand, I hope, that I'm not a big Greenspan fan -- Alan Greenspan fan. I voted against him the last two times. I think he's one of the biggest political hacks we have in Washington. The fact of the matter is, he told us when we were in power and Clinton was president the biggest problem facing the American people was the deficit. And we did something about it. We, during the Clinton years, paid down the debt by about a half a trillion dollars. Why doesn't he respond to the Republicans and tell them the big problem here is the debt that this administration is created?
- ^ "Reid Sticks by Greenspan Comments". The Washington Times. March 5, 2005. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved October 24, 2008.
- ^ Andrews, Edmund L. (March 3, 2005). "Greenspan says Federal Budget Deficits are 'Unsustainable'". The New York Times. Retrieved June 22, 2009.
- ^ Hilsenrath, Jon; Di Leo, Luca & Derby, Michael S. (January 13, 2012). "Little Alarm Shown at Fed At Dawn of Housing Bust". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
- ^ Teeter, Preston; Sandberg, Jorgen (2017). "Cracking the enigma of asset bubbles with narratives". Strategic Organization. 15 (1): 91–99. doi:10.1177/1476127016629880. S2CID 156163200.
- ^ Shiller, Robert (June 20, 2005). "The Bubble's New Home". Barron's.
Once stocks fell, real estate became the primary outlet for the speculative frenzy that the stock market had unleashed. Where else could plungers apply their newly acquired trading talents? The materialistic display of the big house also has become a salve to bruised egos of disappointed stock investors. These days, the only thing that comes close to real estate as a national obsession is poker.