A Look at the Life of the Former Federal Reserve Chairman

Alan Greenspan's name is synonymous with interest rates. Many people know he was the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank for nineteen years, but not as many know his background. Greenspan was an American economist born in 1926 into a family of Hungarian decent in the Washington Heights area of New York City.

During his years at college he was in a jazz band. He is a talented saxophone player that has even played with Stan Getz. He also studied clarinet at Julliard for one year from 1943 to 1944.

Over the years Greenspan has accumulated numerous degrees in economics. He earned a M.A. and a B.S in Economics from NYU and later attended Columbia University until he dropped out. While at Columbia he studied under the former Federal Chairman Arthur Burns. In 1977 Greenspan was presented with a Ph.D. in Economics from NYU. Then in 2000 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science, which was his fourth degree from NYU.

Greenspan first worked as an economic analyst at the Conference Board and then as President and Chairman of Townsend-Greenspan & Co., Inc. an economic and financial consulting firm in New York. During this forty year time period, there was a 3-year hiatus from 1974 to 1977 where he served under President Gerald Ford as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. This was not Greenspan’s first time working with a president as he also worked with Nixon in 1968 during his nomination campaign.

Through the years Alan Greenspan has also served as corporate director for companies such as ABC, General Foods, Alcoa, J.P. Morgan & Company as well as many other companies and financial institutions.

In the early ‘50’s Alan Greenspan formed an association with Ayn Rand, a famed philosopher and novelist, and he wrote for her newsletter and authored a number of essays in her book Capitalism. He was so close with Rand that she stood beside him in 1974 at his swearing in as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.

In August of 1987 Greenspan was appointed to the Federal Reserve as Chairman by then President Ronald Regan. He oversaw the Fed until his retirement in January of 2006, setting a record for tenure. At that time Ben Bernanke took over as the chairman in Greenspan’s place.

Black Monday, October 19, 1987, occurred shortly after Greenspan became chairman and he received much praise for his handling of the matter and his handling of the economic boom that lead to the stock market bubble burst in March of 2000. He also managed to lead the economy through the following recession well.

He built credibility with investors in the financial markets that he was willing to fight inflation. His monetary policy guided the Fed's actions to affect the economy by lowering interest rates in order to fight an impending recession. At the same time, this credibility made this possible to do without shocking the bond market.

Since his retirement, Greenspan has returned to being a private advisor and giving speeches and consultations through Greenspan Associates, LLC. Greenspan has also released a book titled "The Age of Turbulence" which is part autobiography and partly taken from a record of his public policy. The book covers his term as chairman of the Federal Reserve and concludes with his opinions on the current policies of politicians. He recently stated that rising consumer costs, increased national debt, increased inflation and higher unemployment will likely cause our economy to head towards a recession.