Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist and Chairman of the Federal Reserve. He is considered by many to be the leading authority and key participant concerning United States domestic economic policy. For example, he has been instrumental in how the US government decides how to deal with inflation. Given the breadth of his experience, he has been referred to in the media as "the economist's economist".

He was born in New York City, earned an Masters degree in Economics in 1950 from New York University, and a Ph.D. in Economics in 1977. He also attended Columbia University for advanced graduate study. He was a friend of Ayn Rand and was a strong intelectual adovate of the capitalist or even so-called supercapitalist system and the societial ideas and values it represented.

Mr. Greenspan is Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve Board, of which he took office August 11, 1987 and was reappointed to an unprecedented fourth term on June 20, 2000 (which ends on June 20, 2004). He has been appointed in this post by US presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. From 1974 to 1977, he was Chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers under Gerald Ford.