# Greenspan: Who IS he? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 9, 2001, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greenspan-who-is-he/86342 "2001-10-09T15:46:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greenspan-who-is-he/86342/1 "2001-10-09T15:46:31Z")
OK, can someone explain (a) how/when did Greenspan’s position came to be? How long has been serving? Why isn’t this an appointed position - for being so powerful? Also, what would happen if there were no Greenspan - i.e.: a more laissez-faire approach? Also, can someone help me understand the economic recession (ooh… the “R” word) of ~1979-1980s and that of today? For one, why did we see double-digit interest rates back then? These two economic eras seem very similar to me. If you have any “nuggets of knowledge” to share on any part of these questions, it would be greatly appreciated. - Jinx, economically challenged, dazed, and 😕 ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greenspan-who-is-he/86342/2 "2001-10-09T16:17:38Z")
It is an appointed position. Greenspan is Chairman of the Federal Reserve. The seven member Federal Reserve Board of Governors is appointed by the President. The term is 14 years. Chairman is chosen from the board membership by the President, and approved by Congress. The Chairmanship is a 4 year term, but they’ve been reappointing Greenspan since 1987. His current term as Chairman ends in 2004. The Fed was established in 1913. The Motley Fool’s explanation of the Federal Reserve: [http://www.fool.com/Specials/2001/SpecialFed/FederalReserve.htm](http://www.fool.com/Specials/2001/SpecialFed/FederalReserve.htm) ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greenspan-who-is-he/86342/3 "2001-10-09T16:26:16Z")
He’s also Andrea Mitchell’s husband (she’s a reporter for NBC). ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greenspan-who-is-he/86342/4 "2001-10-09T17:49:02Z")
[Ask Cecil.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a951124b.html) ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greenspan-who-is-he/86342/5 "2001-10-09T18:56:02Z")
He’s a former disciple of Ayn Rand, whose famous rants advocating the abolishment of the Federal Reserve helped lead to his eventual selection as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. (You think I’m joking, but I’m not.) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greenspan-who-is-he/86342/6 "2001-10-09T19:30:43Z")
In 1979-1980 oil prices were skyrocketing. IIRC, OPEC had declared another oil boycott of the United States. For sure 1979 was the first time that gasoline prices in the U.S. hit $1.00/gallon. Given the impact of rising oil prices throughout the economy, it’s no wonder inflation hit double digits. Oil prices have done a yo-yo this year. Yes, they’ve gone up, but they’ve also come down quickly, which tends to level out their influence. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greenspan-who-is-he/86342/7 "2001-10-09T19:36:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by plnnr \* > \*\*He’s also Andrea Mitchell’s husband (she’s a reporter for NBC). \*\* Whom he married in 1997, at age 71 (him, not her). Re his involvement with objectivism - from [http://www.fool.com/Specials/2001/SpecialFed/WhoisGreenspan.htm](http://www.fool.com/Specials/2001/SpecialFed/WhoisGreenspan.htm) : > [@](#): > > In the 1950s, Greenspan, who had been steeped in the free-market skepticism of John Maynard Keynes along with most economists of his generation, became an acolyte of Ayn Rand. Rand’s philosophy of what she termed “enlightened selfishness” bears considerable similarity to today’s libertarianism. Greenspan met Rand through his first wife, painter Joan Mitchell. > > Although Greenspan’s friends and colleagues suggest that his relationship with Rand’s Objectivism was more of a flirtation than a real commitment, Greenspan remained part of the philosopher’s circle until at least the late 1960s. In addition to writing for The Objectivist, a rather surprising essay he wrote in defense of the gold standard – surprising in light of his later work, that is – appeared in the Rand-edited 1967 collection of essays Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. Still, something about Greenspan’s obvious pragmatism and political instincts fits poorly with the uncompromising sense of purity that characterizes Rand’s heroes. If Greenspan ever was an Objectivist, his years in Washington have probably made him reconsider. The difference between Greenspan and previous Fed chairmen is mainly that he seems inclined to be much more of a public figure and politician than his predecessors, rather than any difference in the actual powers of the office. Also, he has held it for an unusually long time, partially owing to his political dexterity in gaining reappointment.