Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman whose monetary policies shaped the global economy for decades, has died at the age of 100. His passing marks the end of an era for a generation that grew up with the 'Maestro' as a household name, a figure who seemed to hold the levers of world prosperity in his hands. But beyond the macroeconomic legacy, there is a human cost and a cultural shift that now seems to culminate in his death.
Greenspan presided over the deregulation that fuelled the dot-com boom and the housing bubble, leaving a trail of financial crises that exposed the fault lines of class and inequality. On the street, people may not remember his exact interest rate decisions, but they feel the squeeze of the gig economy and the erosion of middle-class security he unknowingly accelerated. His intellectual legacy, a fervent belief in rational markets, now seems naive, a quaint artifact from a more optimistic time.
The cultural shift is palpable: we live in a world shaped by his theories, yet increasingly sceptical of their wisdom. As we bid farewell to Greenspan, we also bid farewell to a certain American dream, one built on faith in numbers and the invisible hand, now seen by many as a hand that pushed them aside.
