Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, has died at the age of 100. His wife, Andrea Mitchell, stated that he died on Monday at his home from complications of Parkinson's disease.
Greenspan served as the head of the Federal Reserve for 19 years, from 1987 until 2006. During his five terms, he steered U.S. monetary policy under four presidents: Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. During this tenure, he became the world's most high-profile banker and was known for mastering an art of obfuscation known as Fedspeak.
Once hailed as a wizard and possibly the best central banker in history, Greenspan guided the U.S. economy through global upheaval and oversaw the second-longest economic expansion in U.S. history. His reign coincided with a period of stability from the mid-1980s until 2007.
However, his legacy was later tarnished by the 2008 global financial crisis, the worst since the Great Depression. Critics faulted his hands-off approach to financial regulation and argued that he failed to rein in markets ahead of the crisis, which erupted less than two years after he stepped down.