Alan Greenspan, Fed Chairman During Boom Years Prior to Subprime Mortgage Crisis, Dies at 100

Alan Greenspan, the long serving Federal Reserve chairman who oversaw years of prosperity leading up to the subprime mortgage crisis, has died. He was 100.

Greenspan's wife of 29 years, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell, confirmed his death in a statement shared with her outlet on Monday, saying he had died in their home in Washington, DC.

“Alan passed away at our home this morning at the age of 100 from complications of Parkinson’s disease,” Mitchell said in a statement. “He was a giant of a man who helped shape the U.S. economy for decades under presidents of both parties, but was always honest in acknowledging his mistakes."

Greenspan was a titan of monetary policy who served as Fed chairman under four presidents from 1987 to 2006. He pushed for low rates and deregulation, helping to spur one of the biggest economic booms in American history. But critics say his policies helped fuel the housing bubble that imploded with the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007, leading to the Great Recession.

In a statement noting his passing, the Fed said that Greenspan "left a lasting mark on this institution, on the broader field of economics, and on the country."

"Under his leadership, the Federal Reserve achieved a sustained era of price stability that supported economic growth and helped anchor the public's confidence in the institution," the statement 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."

Five-term chair

Greenspan was born in New York City, studying economics at Columbia University under Arthur Burns, who himself would later become chair of the Fed Board. He started his career analyzing commodities demand for a nonprofit before ascending to chairman and president of consulting firm Townsend-Greenspan & Co. Inc.

President Gerald Ford first brought Greenspan into public service, naming him chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers in 1974, and then the National Commission on Social Security Reform. Greenspan's public career continued under President Ronald Reagan, as a member of the Economic Policy Advisory Board and later as a consultant to the Congressional Budget Office.

Greenspan's appointment to the Board of Governors at the Fed coincided with the October 1987 stock market crash. His expertise in acting quickly during that crisis also helped when the market was again roiled in the 1997 financial crisis and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

In its biography, the Federal Reserve calls Greenspan "strongly anti-inflation, focusing more on controlling prices than on promoting full employment." This helped him secure consensus on policy at the Federal Open Market Committee.

After leaving the Board of Governors, Greenspan worked his own Washington, DC, consulting firm, Greenspan Associates LLC.