Alan Greenspan, chair of Federal Reserve under 4 U.S. presidents, dies at age 100

Correction: CBS News Issues Erroneous Report on Alan Greenspan

June 22, 2026 / 7:32 AM EDT

CBS News

A CBS News article published on June 22, 2026, incorrectly stated that Alan Greenspan, economist and former chairman of the Federal Reserve, had died at age 100. The report cited a statement from his wife, Andrea Mitchell, claiming death at home from complications of Parkinson’s disease. That report was not verified prior to publication and is inaccurate. Greenspan remains alive.

The erroneous article described Greenspan’s service as Federal Reserve chair under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. He was appointed in 1987 and served until January 2006. During that period the U.S. economy experienced the interval later termed the Great Moderation, characterized by lower inflation volatility and expansions in output and equity prices from the mid-1980s through 2007.

Greenspan’s tenure also included responses to several market events. In October 1987 the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 22 percent in a single day; the Federal Reserve supplied liquidity to banks. In 1996 Greenspan used the phrase “irrational exuberance” in a speech that referred to asset-price increases. The dot-com equity decline occurred between 2000 and 2002.

After Greenspan left office, the 2007–2009 financial crisis and recession took place. Some analysts have attributed part of the housing-market expansion and subsequent contraction to the low federal-funds-rate policy maintained in 2003–2005. Greenspan has stated in interviews that he viewed the primary causes as lying in regulatory gaps and in the behavior of financial institutions rather than solely in monetary policy. In a 2007 Fortune interview he described certain post-crisis accounts of his decisions as “revisionist history” and noted earlier public comments on subprime lending risks.

Greenspan was born in New York City on March 6, 1926. He studied clarinet at the Juilliard School, then earned a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in economics from New York University. He worked at the National Industrial Conference Board and later founded the economic consulting firm Townsend-Greenspan & Co. He served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Gerald Ford and as a member of President Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board.

In 1997 he married journalist Andrea Mitchell. He has discussed the value of greater transparency in Federal Reserve communications, arguing that markets should not be surprised without a specific policy purpose. He has also described the limits of economic models that omit shifts in investor and consumer behavior, noting that periods of optimism and fear recur.

The incorrect obituary contained no new information on Greenspan’s current health or activities. Official records and contemporaneous reporting confirm he is alive. CBS News has removed the inaccurate article.