Throughout Greenspan's career, he worked for several companies in various positions.
- Brown Brothers Harriman: Greenspan worked at this investment bank in the equity research department while he attended New York University.
- The National Industrial Conference Board: Greenspan was an analyst there from 1948 to 1953.
- Townsend-Greenspan & Company: Greenspan was the president and chairman of this economics consulting company from 1955 to 1987, with a break of three years during that time.
- Gerald Ford's administration: During his three-year respite from Townsend-Greenspan & Company, Greenspan was the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers from 1974 to 1977.
- Richard Nixon's administration: During Nixon's presidential campaign in 1968, Greenspan was one of his economic advisers.
- Council on Foreign Relations: He was a director of the foreign policy organization from 1982 to 1988.
- Group of Thirty: Greenspan served as a member of this financial advisory group in 1984.
In addition, Greenspan was also employed as the corporate director of several companies: General Foods, the Mobil Corporation (now ExxonMobil), the Aluminum Company of America, Automatic Data Processing, and J.P. Morgan & Co.
Chairman of the Federal Reserve
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Greenspan succeeded Paul Volcker as the chairman of the Federal Reserve's board of governors in August of 1987. He was first nominated by President Ronald Reagan and then reappointed by President Bill Clinton. During his years with the Federal Reserve, Greenspan supported Bill Clinton's deficit-reduction efforts in 1993 and America's assistance of Mexico during its peso crisis in 1994 and 1995.
In October of 1987, the stock market crashed, requiring Greenspan's action of making sure that the markets were liquidated. During the Asian financial crisis of 1997, he was adamantly against inflation and emphasized controlling prices rather than helping people find full-time jobs, an attitude for which he was nationally criticized. He raised interest rates multiple times during 2000, contributing to the dot-com failure.
After the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001, Greenspan assisted the Federal Reserve (the Fed) in drastically reducing interest rates from 6.5% to 1.75% in only two years. After recession-induced tax cuts, which reduced the amount of money the federal government collected for taxes, and the United States's costly invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, the federal deficit reached $150 billion.
In 2001, Greenspan encouraged President George W. Bush's proposed decrease in taxes and recommended that Saddam Hussein be removed from power in Iraq in the interest of protecting global oil supplies. Bush nominated Greenspan for a fifth term as chairman of the Fed, where he served until January 31, 2006, when Ben Bernanke replaced him.
The Greenspan Put
Greenspan contributed to the recession, because the economy, not yet recovered from the September 11, 2001, tragedy, needed a boost. Greenspan thought that boost should be lowering interest rates, which he did. The result was a boom in home buying with adjustable-rate mortgages, favored by Greenspan. These subprime mortgages were often written illegally to take advantage of homebuyers with bad credit, a fact of which Greenspan was made aware by the Fed. When he raised the mortgage rates in 2004, numerous buyers defaulted on their mortgages, leading to the recession in 2007. Greenspan had previously opposed federal regulation of financial firms and later admitted that he was mistaken in believing those firms would be self-regulating.
Greenspan Associates, LLC
After serving five terms with the Fed, Greenspan formed Greenspan Associates, LLC, in 2006. Located in Washington, DC, the company is a consulting firm that provides economic advice to hedge funds, investment banks, government agencies, and other financial firms. Greenspan continues to serve at Greenspan Associates in an economic advisory capacity.
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