Alan Greenspan died at the age of 100 from complications of Parkinson's Disease, his wife Andrea Mitchell said in a statement announcing his death at their home.
Mitchell described him as a giant who shaped the US economy while also acknowledging his mistakes, and she said being his life partner was the joy of her life.
Greenspan led the Federal Reserve for almost nineteen years, serving five terms under four presidents after being nominated by Ronald Reagan, and his eighteen and a half year tenure ranks as the second longest in the central bank's history.
He began his career in academia and consulting, teaching economics at New York University in the 1950s and leading a private consulting firm for more than two decades before joining government as a policy adviser and later heading the President's Council of Economic Advisers during the Nixon and Ford years.
Legacy Reaction And Record
At the Fed, Greenspan guided policy through deep market shocks, including the largest one-day percentage decline in the stock market two months into his leadership, when he pledged the central bank would serve as a source of liquidity to support markets and the financial system.
During his tenure the US experienced a strong peacetime expansion, unemployment dipped below four percent, the stock market reached record highs, and the federal government moved from deficits to surpluses, according to accounts of his time in office.
His policy moves after the dot-com bust included cutting the central bank's key interest rate to unprecedented low levels, eventually reaching one percent, a stance that many economists later said helped encourage mortgage lending and inflate a nationwide housing bubble.
Greenspan faced criticism for dismissing a national housing bubble while in office and later testified before the House Oversight Committee during the financial crisis that followed his tenure, saying he was in a "state of shocked disbelief" at the breadth of the economic damage.
The Fed and officials offered formal reflections. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said it was a sad day for the Fed, and the central bank released a statement noting Greenspan's enduring legacy in those he mentored and the frameworks he helped shape.
Colleagues and commentators highlighted both accomplishments and controversy, with some crediting Greenspan for recognizing the economic impact of computers and the internet and others faulting low rates and limited oversight for contributing to the housing boom and later crisis.
Greenspan also changed Fed practice by making policy more transparent, instituting post-meeting policy statements, and became known for intentionally opaque public remarks, including his famous warning about "irrational exuberance" that briefly rattled markets.
Outside government he received honors from foreign and US leaders, ran an advisory firm, advised financial firms, wrote books including a memoir published just before the recession that tarnished his reputation, and maintained personal passions such as jazz and sports.
