Alan Greenspan, the 13th chairman of the Federal Reserve who guided U.S. monetary policy from August 1987 to January 2006, died Monday at his home in Washington, D.C. He was 100. The cause was complications from Parkinson's disease, according to his wife, Andrea Mitchell, an NBC News correspondent.
Greenspan's nearly two-decade tenure spanned presidencies from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush, making him the second-longest-serving Fed chair after William McChesney Martin. He was appointed by Reagan and reappointed by George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. His death prompted a statement from the Federal Reserve, which noted his contributions left a lasting mark on the institution and the broader field of economics.
The Maestro and the 1990s Boom
Greenspan took office just two months before Black Monday, October 19, 1987, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in a single session. His response—issuing a brief statement of central bank support and injecting liquidity—helped stabilize markets and set a precedent for his tenure. He later became known as "the Maestro" for presiding over the 1991–2001 economic expansion, the longest in U.S. history at the time.
A pivotal decision came in the mid-1990s, when Greenspan kept interest rates low despite falling unemployment, betting that productivity gains would contain inflation. That call proved correct and is often cited by policymakers, including current Fed Chair Jerome Powell, as an example of judgment overriding rigid models. In a December 1996 speech at the American Enterprise Institute, Greenspan asked how policymakers could identify "irrational exuberance" in asset prices, a phrase that later seemed prescient as the dot-com bubble burst in 2001.
The Greenspan Put and Crisis Criticism
Market observers noted a pattern during Greenspan's tenure: the Fed appeared to support equity investors during downturns, injecting liquidity after the 1987 crash, the 1998 collapse of Long-Term Capital Management, and the September 11, 2001 attacks. This perceived backstop became known as the "Greenspan put," which critics argued encouraged excessive risk-taking by financial institutions.
In October 2008 testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Greenspan admitted to being "shocked" that his faith in market self-discipline had been misplaced. "Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders' equity, myself included, are in a state of shocked disbelief," he said. The bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission later found that Greenspan's failure to discourage subprime mortgage securities and his support for deregulation contributed to the 2007–2008 crisis.
Early Life and Post-Fed Career
Born March 6, 1926, in New York City's Washington Heights, Greenspan studied at Juilliard and played jazz saxophone before earning a PhD in economics from New York University. He was known for doing his most intensive thinking in the bathtub, sometimes for two hours at a time, drafting speeches and analyzing data. After leaving the Fed, he ran Greenspan Associates, a consulting firm serving Wall Street clients, and collected speaking fees. In January 2026, months before his death, he co-signed a letter opposing what he called "an unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks to undermine" the Fed's independence.
Greenspan's legacy remains contested. Supporters credit him with navigating the 1990s boom and the dot-com bust, while critics point to his role in fostering conditions that led to the 2008 financial crisis. His death closes a chapter in U.S. monetary policy that continues to influence debates about central bank independence and market intervention.
