NEW YORK, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Alan Greenspan, the central banker who spent nearly 19 years as chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, died Monday from complications of Parkinson's disease, according to local media reports. He was 100.
Greenspan was appointed Fed chairman in 1987 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and held the position until retiring in 2006. He presided over the Federal Reserve under four presidents, from Reagan to George W. Bush. His tenure was the second longest, just four months short of that of William McChesney Martin, who presided over the central bank from 1951 to 1970.
Born to a Jewish family on March 6, 1926, in New York, Greenspan enrolled in New York University and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in economics by 1950. He received his Ph.D. in 1977 at age 51.
Greenspan had worked at Brown Brothers Harriman, the National Industrial Conference Board and the Townsend-Greenspan consulting firm. He served as chairman of President Gerald Ford's Council of Economic Advisers from 1974 to 1977, and chairman of the National Commission on Social Security Reform from 1981 to 1983.
Greenspan was widely known as "the Maestro." His comment about the "irrational exuberance" of investors once shocked the markets in 1996. The phrase "irrational exuberance" was interpreted as a signal that Greenspan thought the market was overvalued.
Local media hail Greenspan as one of the most influential economic policymakers of his era. Throughout his career as Fed chairman, he focused on fighting inflation over promoting full employment.
After he left the Fed, Greenspan opened his own consulting firm, Greenspan Associates. ■