WEBVTT - Special Report: Alan Greenspan Dies at 100

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<v Speaker 1>This is breaking news from Bloomberg.

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<v Speaker 2>Some breaking news at the moment. Alan Greenspan, the influential

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<v Speaker 2>economists who steered US monetary policy during his five terms

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<v Speaker 2>as Chairman of the Federal Reserve under four presidents, died Monday.

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<v Speaker 2>His wife said in a statement he was one hundred.

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<v Speaker 2>This is according to NBC. Right now, let's go to

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<v Speaker 2>David Wesson with some thoughts on the life of Alan Greenspin.

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<v Speaker 1>Greenspan's first exposure to the global financial system he would

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<v Speaker 1>lead came playing the clarinet in a jazz band at

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<v Speaker 1>a New Hampshire resort in nineteen forty four, not really

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<v Speaker 1>understanding at the time that the delegates gathered one floor

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<v Speaker 1>below him were working through what would become the Breton

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<v Speaker 1>Woods Accords.

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<v Speaker 3>I was at the Mount Washington Hotel in Breton Woods,

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<v Speaker 3>New Hampshire. I didn't have a clue what all of

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<v Speaker 3>that noise around me was. And somebody said there was

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<v Speaker 3>a big convention here. I said, oh, too bad. I

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<v Speaker 3>didn't think about it again for seventy five years.

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<v Speaker 1>Forty three years later, he had gone from playing in

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<v Speaker 1>the band to becoming simply the chairman presiding over the

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<v Speaker 1>Federal Reserve. For nearly twenty years. That's the second longest

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<v Speaker 1>tenure in history. Known for supporting the economy through what

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<v Speaker 1>became known as the Greenspan put that helped give the

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<v Speaker 1>United States unprecedented prosperity through the nineteen nineties. Alan Greenspan

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<v Speaker 1>was the first to admit he didn't know everything, not

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<v Speaker 1>even he could have anticipated something never taught in economics,

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<v Speaker 1>the possibility of negative interest rates.

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<v Speaker 3>How in the world did we end up with negative

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<v Speaker 3>interest rates? Interest rates are a major component of what

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<v Speaker 3>eccounts called time preference. It's the extent of discounting human

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<v Speaker 3>beings make about values today versus values tomorrow.

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<v Speaker 1>But to the end, Chair Greenspan remained focused on the

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<v Speaker 1>big questions that he found timeless, and especially on the

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<v Speaker 1>threat posed by our looming national deficit.

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<v Speaker 3>The one thing that has been a very considerable surprise

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<v Speaker 3>in recent years is the extent to which unequivocally entitlements

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<v Speaker 3>of crowding out gross domestic savings dollar a dollar. To

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<v Speaker 3>get that changed is a huge political issue.

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<v Speaker 1>Though he has been gone from his position at the

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<v Speaker 1>top of the Federal Reserve for over a quarter century,

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<v Speaker 1>the whole that he leaves will continue on well into

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<v Speaker 1>the future.

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<v Speaker 2>That was Bloomberg Stavid Weston with some thoughts on the

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<v Speaker 2>passing of Alan Greenspan. Former fits here. Alan Greenspan, who

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<v Speaker 2>died today at the age of one hundred, Isabell Lee

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<v Speaker 2>joining me Tom Keen is off today Isabelle Lee. So

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<v Speaker 2>some big news. A influential voice, to say the least

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<v Speaker 2>five terms as Chairman of the Federal Reserve under four presidents.

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<v Speaker 4>And he achieved celebrity status. I think under President Bill

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<v Speaker 4>Clinton win stocks to record heis. I think the Economist

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<v Speaker 4>magazine dubbed him a rock star, and a lot of

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<v Speaker 4>his admirers call him the maestro. Definitely a revered former

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<v Speaker 4>FED chair.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean one hundred years that it is a

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<v Speaker 2>heck of a run. James Eggohoff joins us here. He's

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<v Speaker 2>the chief US economist for BNP Parrybah. He's in our

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<v Speaker 2>Bloomberg and directive broker studio. James just huge news from

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<v Speaker 2>folks like economists, market watchers. Alan Greenspan just a monumental.

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<v Speaker 5>Figure, a huge figure in the history of the Federal Reserve,

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<v Speaker 5>really a dominant in the dominant figure in the way

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<v Speaker 5>the Fed communicates with markets, the way the Fed operates

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<v Speaker 5>in markets. Much of what we debate, including this past week,

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<v Speaker 5>is a reaction to his legacy. How does what is

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<v Speaker 5>the role of the chair versus the rest of the committee?

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<v Speaker 5>Alan Greenspin was an over larger than life figure who

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<v Speaker 5>set policy pretty much independently. The way he communicates, the

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<v Speaker 5>way he would walk around with a big briefrace or

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<v Speaker 5>a small briefcase, the signal rate moves, his approach to

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<v Speaker 5>his public speaking. A lot of what we debate now

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<v Speaker 5>is a reaction to.

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<v Speaker 1>His term in office.

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<v Speaker 4>Even the phrase irrational exuberns is something that he coined

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<v Speaker 4>and I still hear that decades after.

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<v Speaker 5>Well, it's because Alan Greenspan led the economy through the

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<v Speaker 5>nineties through the last time we had a very very

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<v Speaker 5>exuberant tech boom, and so some of these historical echoes

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<v Speaker 5>we hear today. Alan Greenspan, for example, cut rates three

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<v Speaker 5>times that to the failure of long term capital in

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<v Speaker 5>ninety eight, which we think out which we think Jay

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<v Speaker 5>Powell lifted from very very liberally last year winning cut

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<v Speaker 5>rates after tariffs. And so now a lot of debate

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<v Speaker 5>now about whether new chair wars will have to lift

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<v Speaker 5>a page from Alan Greenspan's playbook in ninte ninety nine

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<v Speaker 5>when he took those insurance cuts back.

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<v Speaker 6>Well, you forget.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean mister Greenspan service bed chair chief for eighteen

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<v Speaker 2>years nineteen eighty seven to two thousand and six. It

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<v Speaker 2>was credit with guiding a record US economic expansion, but

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<v Speaker 2>his legacy was laan or dimmed by the financial crisis

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<v Speaker 2>that erupted in two thousand and eight. James, thanks so much,

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<v Speaker 2>appreciate it as always. James Egoholf, chief US Economists for BNP.

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<v Speaker 2>Parry bought lots of news flows out here today with

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<v Speaker 2>mister Greenspan. We want to get some perspective here on

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<v Speaker 2>these items. John mcleithwaite joints this here, editor in chief

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<v Speaker 2>of Bloomberg News. He is in our London office at

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<v Speaker 2>the moment. John talked to us about your thoughts here

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<v Speaker 2>on Alan green Span. Such an extraordinary career spanning so

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<v Speaker 2>many years, so many presidencies and reshaping kind of the

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<v Speaker 2>Federal Reserve. Love to get your thoughts on mister green

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<v Speaker 2>Pen and his passing.

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<v Speaker 6>Well, obviously it's a sad day in that respect. I

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<v Speaker 6>think he you know, green Span was one of the

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<v Speaker 6>great central bankers on multiple different levels. Really very very intelligent,

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<v Speaker 6>also kind of very cryptic in terms of the way

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<v Speaker 6>he often communicated to people. But I think he always

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<v Speaker 6>had this very long sort of intellectual history, goes back

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<v Speaker 6>all the way to the fact that he was involved

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<v Speaker 6>with him Anne Rand and stuff like that. He went

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<v Speaker 6>through different kind of intellectual fashions, and on the whole

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<v Speaker 6>he ran the economy pretty well well. There will always

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<v Speaker 6>be people who question, you know, how much his loosening

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<v Speaker 6>set up the kind of financial crisis, but you know

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<v Speaker 6>there were other factors at work there as well. It

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<v Speaker 6>wasn't just him. So I think he will he goes

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<v Speaker 6>as a giant of central banking.

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<v Speaker 4>What do you think is the biggest legacy that he

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<v Speaker 4>left us with, especially now as the Federal Reserve and

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<v Speaker 4>questions about it independence continue to hound markets and investors.

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<v Speaker 6>That's a good point. I think he was a very

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<v Speaker 6>strong advocate of central bank independence. I mean, sometimes you

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<v Speaker 6>forget these things that you forget how different the world

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<v Speaker 6>was at one time. But the fact that you ended

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<v Speaker 6>up with Paul Volka, Alan Greenspan, obviously people like Ben

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<v Speaker 6>Bananke afterwards. The whole presumption of what they did was

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<v Speaker 6>that the Federal Reserve should be separate and independent in

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<v Speaker 6>places like Britain more at the moment. You know, that

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<v Speaker 6>was also a more recent things. This is not something

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<v Speaker 6>that has always been there. It's the kind of reputation

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<v Speaker 6>that has to be built. And it's interesting the way

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<v Speaker 6>that Jay Powell has managed to sort of defend that,

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<v Speaker 6>I think actually relatively successfully against some Donald Trump's attempts

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<v Speaker 6>to sort of intervene in that area.

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<v Speaker 2>John, thank you so much for We really appreciate getting

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<v Speaker 2>your thoughts here and your perspective. John mcclethwaite, he's the

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<v Speaker 2>editor in chief of Bloomberg News. He is in Lumberg's

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<v Speaker 2>London headquarters of Queen Victoria History