Greenspan Dies as Fed Shadow Lingers
Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman whose long reign made him a market oracle and later a symbol of pre-crisis excess, died at 100 as investors again debated inflation, rates and central-bank power.
The death of Alan Greenspan closed one of the most consequential chapters in modern central banking. From the 1987 market crash through the long 1990s expansion, the dot-com bust and the aftermath of September 11, Greenspan became the face of a Fed that could calm markets with a phrase, a hint or sometimes a deliberate cloud of ambiguity. He was celebrated as the “Maestro” during the boom years, then judged more harshly after the housing collapse and financial crisis exposed the dangers of easy credit, deregulation and confidence that markets could largely police themselves.
His passing landed on a day when monetary policy was again at the centre of the news. Bank of America said it now expects three U.S. rate hikes this year, citing a resilient labour market and a more hawkish Fed under Kevin Warsh. That made Greenspan’s legacy feel less like history than a live argument: whether central bankers are guardians, magicians, firefighters or, at times, authors of the next emergency. Markets keep changing. The spell of the Fed does not.
