Editor's Note: This text is a translation of a user-provided manuscript. Public records indicate Alan Greenspan is still alive as of 2024. Readers should verify this information before treating it as fact.

Alan Greenspan, former head of the Federal Reserve System, has completed his century-long life journey, passing away at his home on June 22. His family confirmed that the cause of death was complications arising from Parkinson's disease. This renowned figure in the economic community helped shape the development trajectory of the U.S. economy for decades during the administrations of multiple U.S. presidents, while always frankly admitting his mistakes. The Federal Reserve subsequently issued a statement expressing deep mourning for Greenspan's death, noting that his contributions to monetary policy and economic thought had a profound impact on the Fed, the economics community, and the United States.

Since being nominated to head the Federal Reserve in 1987, he remained in this key position for nearly nineteen years until stepping down in 2006, a tenure length among the longest in the history of the U.S. central bank. During this long tenure, he led the U.S. economy through multiple cycles of alternating prosperity and recession. Successors commented that he helped guide the United States through nearly twenty years of prosperity, and even though he has now left, future generations are still learning from his experience. However, Greenspan's monetary policy was long controversial. Supporters believe he spearheaded one of the longest-lasting economic expansions in U.S. history; critics argue that his policy of maintaining low interest rates for a long period laid the groundwork for the real estate bubble and the 2008 financial crisis.

In late 1996, his questioning of whether asset prices were overinflated by irrational exuberance instantly triggered global stock market turmoil, with the Tokyo market suffering a significant decline that day. This phrase also became a classic warning signal in financial history. Although the market subsequently recovered and continued to rise until on the eve of the dot-com bubble burst, this statement从此 became one of the most representative market warnings in financial history. In addition to policy influence, Greenspan was also known for his obscure and convoluted speaking style. During his tenure, he often used long and complex statements to respond to congressmen and media questions to avoid market overinterpretation of his views. This style was later known as Fed speak. After retirement, he once admitted this was actually a deliberate strategy, because some questions could not be answered directly, so he would speak several sentences in a row and become increasingly obscure.

Because of this, market participants closely monitored every statement he made for a long time. Media once commented that apart from the President, Greenspan might be the most powerful person in the United States. With just a few words, he could instantly send the stock market to heaven or hell. Before devoting himself to the field of economics, he studied clarinet and saxophone in his early years, even had experience performing in a jazz band, and later transferred to New York University to study economics and obtained a Ph.D. His career successively worked at multiple banks and economic consulting firms, and also served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and Chairman of the Commission on Social Security Reform.

Shortly after taking office, he encountered Stock Market Black Monday, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted in a single day, setting a historical record. He decisively provided liquidity support to stabilize morale, but therefore was considered by critics to have established some kind of implicit guarantee, fueling subsequent risky behavior. During his tenure, Greenspan successively dealt with multiple challenges such as the Asian Financial Crisis, Russian debt default, Long-Term Capital Management Crisis, and terrorist attacks. However, after the outbreak of the 2008 financial crisis, the outside world generally attributed part of the responsibility to his long-term low interest rate policy and underestimation of real estate market risks. In response, Greenspan later admitted he knew there were problematic loans and subprime mortgage phenomena in the market, but until 2005 to 2006 did he truly realize the magnitude of the problem.

After retirement, he remained active in public policy discussions, emphasizing multiple times that central bank independence should not be subject to political interference, and pointed out in his later years that fear is the key force behind market collapse. He once jointly signed a statement with multiple former Fed and Treasury officials, opposing criminal investigations against the current Fed Chairman, believing this move could damage Fed independence. Regarding the essence of financial markets, Greenspan left a highly representative summary in his later years, believing that fear and euphoria are the most powerful forces in the market, and the power of fear far exceeds euphoria. Bubbles often form slowly, but when fear comes, the market will collapse rapidly. The contagion effect is the key factor that truly leads to system collapse.