Alan Greenspan, economist and longtime head of the Federal Reserve, dies at 100

[demmiblue]

Alan Greenspan, the influential economist who steered U.S. monetary policy during his five terms as chairman of the Federal Reserve under four presidents, died Monday, his wife said in a statement.

He was 100.

Greenspan helped define modern American capitalism from the final years of the Cold War era through the dawn of the digital age. He presided over the Fed during one of the longest economic expansions in U.S. history, a boom stretching from 1991 to 2001. But he was also faulted for decisions that critics say created the conditions for the global financial crisis of 2007-08, such as advocating for deregulation of the financial sector.

He is survived by his wife of 29 years, Andrea Mitchell, the chief Washington correspondent and chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/obituaries/alan-greenspan-economist-longtime-head-federal-reserve-dies-100-rcna42286

[bucolic_frolic]

1. In a recent interview given in Scotland

Jeremy Grantham said something the effect Greenspan was a failed investment advisor who got kicked upstairs by a Republican president and enable debt expansion that took hold and we're still dealing with the consequences.

Funny how Republicans hated debt unless Greenspan was creating it. He spawned this whole cycle of tax cuts for the rich with expansion of the money supply. He salved the Dot Com Bubble Burst, and the Housing Bubble, and pointed Bernanke down the path to QE 1-2-3, Operation Twist, The Plunge Protection Team. What'd we get out of all this largesse? Debt, income inequality, a ruptured social safety net, health care no working person can afford.

Good riddance.

[Intractable]

2. When famous people die, sometimes we mourn and sometimes we don't.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Commendably understated and classy. /nt

[DFW]

4. Sometimes, you can only work with the tools you're given

After the economic collapse under Reagan/Bush something drastic had to be done. Clinton was in uncharted waters and took his shot.

If you know “Waltzing Matilda,” here is our version from 20 years ago:

Once was a Greenspan guarding our economy
“Bill made a surplus, that’s good, Bill,” said he
Then said the Bush-man, “if I make a deficit,
“You’ll come a-faulting Bill Clinton with me.”

[Moostache]

5. Excuse me...I have a grave site to find and an urge to urinate...

Fuck him and his entire life. The world sucks a little bit less today. My soul is hurt that a 1year old baby was murdered by police guns and this piece of shit lived for 100 years? Cosmic Justice is a joke.