Real World Economics: The complex, influential legacy of Alan Greenspan

Real World Economics: The complex, influential legacy of Alan Greenspan reflects on the far-reaching impact of Alan Greenspan, who died last week at age 100. The article argues that the U.S. economy—and possibly politics—would be different without his tenure as chair of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. It also suggests Greenspan’s influence extended globally, with decisions whose effects may not be fully understood for decades. The piece places Greenspan in the broader arc of the “American century,” noting the shift from a global economic regime beginning in 1920 and expanded in 1946, to a later period when those structures were changing as he stepped down in 2006. It traces his life from a New York upbringing during the Great Depression to his studies at NYU’s Stern School of Business and subsequent Wall Street work.