Alan Greenspan - Definition and Overview

Dr. Alan Greenspan, KBE (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist and Chairman of the Federal Reserve. He is considered by many to be the leading authority and key participant concerning United States domestic economic policy. For example, he has been instrumental in how the U.S. government deals with inflation. Given the breadth of his experience, he has been referred to in the media as "the economist's economist" and "maestro".

Greenspan was born in New York City to a Jewish family. He earned a Master's degree in Economics in 1950 from New York University, and a Ph.D. in Economics in 1977. He also attended Columbia University for advanced graduate study.

During the 50's and 60's Greenspan was a close associate of author-philosopher Ayn Rand and a leading figure within the Objectivist movement. Working through the Nathaniel Branden Institute he gave many speeches advocating unfettered capitalism as a social and economic philosophy. He also authored many articles for Objectivist newsletters, and contributed a chapter for Rand's 1966 book Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal. Somewhat ironically, considering his later career, at the time Greenspan was a strong advocate that the United States embrace the gold standard rather than accept monetary policy set by the US central bank.

In the mid-1980s, Greenspan was on the board of directors of Alcoa.

Today Mr. Greenspan is Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve Board, an office he first took on August 11, 1987. On May 18, 2004, he was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve for an unprecedented fifth term. He has been appointed to this post by U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. From 1974 to 1977, he was Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under Gerald Ford.

His honorary titles include Knight Commander of the British Empire, bestowed in 2002 and Commander of the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honor).

He is married to NBC journalist Andrea Mitchell.

Greenspan's term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve is set to expire in January 2006, and he is not eligible to be renominated to a sixth term in that position.

Quotes

• "But how do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values, which then become subject to unexpected and prolonged contractions as they have in Japan over the past decade?", Francis Boyer Lecture of The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Washington, D.C., December 5, 1996 [1] (http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/1996/19961205.htm)

• "Once stock prices reach the point at which it is hard to value them by logical methodology, stocks will be bought as they were in the late 1920s not for investment but to be unloaded at a still higher price. The ensuing break could be disastrous because panic psychology cannot be summarily altered or reversed by easing money policies." Greenspan in 1959. [2] (http://www.safehaven.com/article-171.htm)

External links

• Official Federal Reserve biography (http://www.federalreserve.gov/bios/greenspan.htm)
• 1996 speech by Greenspan about the challenges of central banking (http://www.federalreserve.gov/BOARDDOCS/SPEECHES/19961205.htm)
• 2003 speech by Greenspan about "Market Economies and Rule of Law" (http://www.federalreserve.gov/BoardDocs/speeches/2003/20030404/default.htm)
• Educate Yourself-Greenspan --The Chairman...through the years (http://www.buyandhold.com/bh/en/education/history/2000/1700.html)
• Alan Greenspan's political donations (http://www.newsmeat.com/washington_political_donations/Alan_Greenspan.php)

Criticism

• Fleck on Greenspan (http://www.fleckensteincapital.com/old_raps/friend_or_foe.htm)
• Making Economic Sense - Chapter 83 (http://www.mises.org/econsense/ch83.asp)