Greenspan's Post-Fed Life: Lucrative Speaking, Writing
Jan. 31, 2006 — -- Today Alan Greenspan will chair the final Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting of his 18-year tenure as chairman of the central bank.
If the FOMC raises interest rates as expected, it will be the 84th rate change that Greenspan has presided over since taking the reins of the national bank on Aug. 11, 1988. He has led the U.S. economy through stock market crashes, wars, the largest economic expansion in U.S. peacetime history, terror attacks and recessions.
Along the way, Greenspan has become a familiar face, culling both praise as a monetary genius and criticism for overstepping his nonpartisan role by playing in the national political sandbox.
Greenspan has been only the 13th chairman of the Federal Reserve System since its creation in 1913. Only five men have been chairman in the past 50 years, with Greenspan and William Martin serving terms of more than 15 years each.
In retirement, Greenspan has said he'll write a book (an economic tome on his monetary ideals and time at the Fed), make speeches (for amazingly high fees) and run a economic consulting firm out of Washington.
The chairman of the Federal Reserve is the public face of the nation's central bank. He testifies before Congress, makes speeches and is the most powerful member of the committee that sets interest rates for the United States.
He also presides over the seven-member Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
Some would argue that the Fed chairman is the most powerful presidentially appointed official in the U.S. government, because the chairman's decisions directly affect the wallets of every American and American business, not to mention the global economy.
By setting two key interest rates (the discount rate and the Fed funds rate), the Fed sets the price of borrowing money, spurs growth and diffuses inflationary pressures.
The Fed also controls the nation's money supply (the number of dollars floating around in the world economy) by buying and selling U.S. Treasury securities.
In October President Bush formally appointed Ben Bernanke to take over as chairman of the Federal Reserve when Greenspan steps down.
Bernanke, an economist trained at Harvard and MIT, was chairman of the economics department at Princeton for several years. He gained practical experience during his three-year stint as a Fed governor. He is widely recognized as a leading monetary economist, and it's expected he'll be confirmed easily.
He comes into the position at a time of skyrocketing energy prices and rising inflation. Bernanke has said that he plans to continue Greenspan's policy of fighting inflation, and he wants to make the Fed's operations more transparent.
Who were the previous Chairmen?
1. Charles S. Hamlin (August 10, 1914 -- August 9, 1916)
2. William P. G. Harding (August 10, 1916 -- August 9, 1922)
3. Daniel R. Crissinger (May 1, 1923 -- September 15, 1927)
4. Roy A. Young (October 4, 1927 -- August 31, 1930)
5. Eugene Meyer (September 16, 1930 -- May 10, 1933)
6. Eugene R. Black (May 19, 1933 -- August 15, 1934)
7. Marriner S. Eccles (November 15, 1934 -- January 31, 1948)
8. Thomas B. McCabe (April 15, 1948 -- March 31, 1951)
9. William McChesney Martin, Jr. (April 2, 1951 -- January 31, 1970)
10. Arthur F. Burns (February 1, 1970 -- January 31, 1978)
11. G. William Miller (March 8, 1978 -- August 6, 1979)
12. Paul A. Volcker (August 6, 1979 -- August 11, 1987)
13. Alan Greenspan (August 11, 1987 -- January 31, 2006)
14. Ben S. Bernanke (February 1, 2006 - )
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