TechFlow News, June 22: Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan passed away at the age of 100. According to NBC News, citing his wife Andrea Mitchell—the network’s chief foreign affairs correspondent and chief Washington correspondent—he died at home on Monday from complications of Parkinson’s disease. Greenspan presided over a record-breaking expansion of the U.S. economy, but his legacy was tarnished less than two years after his retirement by the outbreak of the global financial crisis.
Greenspan served as Federal Reserve Chairman for 18 years—from 1987 until his retirement in early 2006—during which time the U.S. stock market flourished and unemployment remained low. He was widely regarded as the “maestro” of sound economic management—not only by the four U.S. presidents he served under, but also by the seven Treasury Secretaries with whom he worked. Roger Ferguson, who served as Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve from 1999 to 2006, stated: “Alan Greenspan should be remembered as one of the greatest central bankers globally in the second half of the 20th century—not just within the Federal Reserve.” He noted that Greenspan “was among the first to recognize how technology boosted U.S. productivity, enabling the economy to achieve unexpectedly rapid growth without triggering inflation.” (Jinshi)
