Alan Greenspan, architect of the modern American economy, dies aged 100

Alan Greenspan, architect of the modern American economy, dies aged 100Image source, Getty ImagesBySam WoodhousePublished22 June 2026Former US Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan has died aged 100, his wife has said.NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell said in a statement reported by her employer that her husband had died from complications of Parkinson's Disease.Mitchell's statement said Greenspan was "a giant of a man who helped shape the US economy for decades under presidents of both parties, but was always honest in acknowledging his mistakes".For nearly 20 years, Alan Greenspan was charged with safeguarding the US economy and keeping the dollar sound.As chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987-2006, a post described as the second most important after the presidency, he presided over the longest sustained period of US economic growth in a generation.Described as the "God in the machine" of American finance, Greenspan declined all requests for interviews during his time at the Fed.The media and the money markets hung on his few public statements, and a sign in his office said simply, "the buck starts here".But critics argue that an over-reliance on easy credit fuelled the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and caused the sub-prime mortgage crisis of 2008.Image source, Bettmann via Getty ImagesImage caption, President Nixon gave him his entry into governmentThe Fed said Greenspan's policies and economic thinking "left a lasting mark on this institution, on the broader field of economics, and on the country".In a statement on Monday, the central bank said: "He brought rigorous analytical discipline to monetary policymaking and helped establish the credibility that remains one of the Federal Reserve's most important assets."The Fed said his legacy lives on at the institution through the economist he mentored and inspired as chairman.Alan Greenspan was born in New York City on 6 March 1926. His...