ABSTRACT
Alan Greenspan was born on March 6, 1926 in New York City, the only son of Herman Herbert and Rose Goldsmith Greenspan. His insatiable love of figures and economics prompted him to enroll in New York University's School of Commerce. There he earned a bachelor's degree in economics, graduating summa cum laude in 1948. Greenspan proved to be more than merely an academic economist. Together with a bond trader William Townsend, he formed the economic consulting firm of Townsend-Greenspan. Greenspan first became connected with official Washington in 1968, when he was named the director of domestic policy research for Republican presidential candidate Richard M. Nixon. By 1994, the business community itself was openly critical of Greenspan's characteristic tight money policy, especially in the absence of conclusive indicators suggesting overheating of the economy. As chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board, Alan Greenspan has worked to balance economic growth, employment rates, and inflation.
