Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, the United States central bank, has died at the age of 100.
The news has shaken the world of global finance: Greenspan was not, so to speak, a central banker like all the others. Nicknamed «The Maestro» for his ability to steer the world’s largest economy through one crisis after another, the New York-born banker sat at the helm of the Fed for almost 20 years.
Among the most famous lines that summed up his philosophy is one that could be held partly responsible for the enormous debt now weighing on the federal accounts of the United States: «The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So there is zero probability of default.»
The «Greenspan put» and a doctrine built on low rates
Though not officially the father of quantitative easing (QE) — the bazooka of expansionary monetary policy later deployed by the Fed under his successor Ben Bernanke during the 2008 subprime financial crisis — Greenspan, who occupied the highest seat at the American central bank from 1987 to 2006, was a firm believer in a policy centered on lower interest rates, indirectly propping up financial markets. So much so that Wall Street often spoke of the «Greenspan put,» a reference to measures aimed at stabilizing the U.S. stock market.
Among the other lines uttered by the central banker who made history was the observation that «fear is a far more dominant force in human behavior than euphoria» — a force, in his view, capable of destroying in a matter of days or weeks even the most intense euphoria, which by contrast tends to build slowly, over years.
Another aphorism etched into the history of the Fed concerned the gold standard and inflation: «In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value.»
A death announced by his wife, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell
Greenspan died today, Monday, June 22, 2026, at his home, from complications related to Parkinson’s disease, which the economist had suffered from. NBC News reported that Greenspan, the influential economist who served as Federal Reserve chairman under four presidents, had died at 100.
The news of his death was announced by his wife, Andrea Mitchell, Chief Washington Correspondent and Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for NBC News:
«He was a giant who helped shape the U.S. economy for decades, under presidents of both parties. But he was always honest in acknowledging his own mistakes. To me he was my husband, the man who has shaped my life since our very first date in 1984. He had an “irrational exuberance” — a phrase famously coined by Greenspan himself — for baseball, the Washington Commanders, tennis, golf and music, especially jazz. He will be remembered for his brilliance and his kindness. Being his life partner has been the joy of my life.»
Alan Greenspan was appointed chairman of the Federal Reserve in 1987 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, remaining the central bank’s number one until 2006. His tenure as a central banker was the second-longest in history, lasting just four months less than that of his predecessor William McChesney Martin, who presided over the Fed from 1951 to 1970.
The Fed responded to the news of Greenspan’s death with a statement expressing its «deep sadness,» recalling how his «contributions to monetary policy and economic thought left a lasting imprint on this institution and on the broader field of economics, as well as on the country.»
«Irrational exuberance» and the bubbles he tried to manage
«Irrational exuberance» is just one of the many phrases the former Fed chairman delivered. He pronounced it in a speech dating back to December 5, 1996, and it sent a jolt through global equities. As Greenspan put it: «How do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values, which then become subject to unexpected and prolonged contractions, as they have in Japan over the past decade? ... We should not underestimate or become complacent about the complexity of the interactions between asset markets and the economy.»
The statement was interpreted as evidence that Greenspan believed markets were overvalued. The selling was immediate. Markets then recovered ground quickly, continuing to rise until the dot-com bubble burst in 2001 — riding the very wave of what Greenspan had called irrational exuberance.
Beyond managing the dot-com crisis, Greenspan sought to revive the U.S. economy after the September 11, 2001 attack on the Twin Towers, beginning to cut interest rates drastically. The BBC recalls how it was the central banker who pushed then-President George W. Bush to remove Saddam Hussein, fearing the Iraqi dictator could cause chaos in global energy markets.
In 2006, Greenspan stepped down as chairman of the Federal Reserve after an unprecedented run spanning five terms. The following year, the now-infamous U.S. housing market crisis emerged — one the Federal Reserve had failed to foresee — which culminated in the subprime mortgage crisis, toppling banks and unleashing the worst downturn in the United States since the Great Depression. Critics argued that the very policy of low interest rates pursued by Greenspan after 9/11 had fueled the fever in the U.S. housing market, creating yet another bubble that ultimately brought the country to its knees.
Editor’s note
This article was originally published in Italian on money.it by Laura Naka Antonelli on June 22, 2026 as «È morto a 100 anni Alan Greenspan, ex Presidente Fed. Disse: L’America può pagare qualsiasi debito stampando moneta». It has been translated and adapted for an international audience by the Money.it International desk.
