Fed Chairman Greenspan Turns 75

March 6, 2001 -- From Wall Street to Main Street, Americans can rest assured that on the occasion of his 75th birthday today, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan should have no trouble blowing out all of the candles on his cake.

As he has for the past decade, Greenspan was celebrating over lunch in Washington, D.C., with three friends also born on March 6 — Bill Webster, the former head of the CIA and the FBI; Tom Foley, the U.S. ambassador to Japan and former House speaker; and Sen. Christopher Bond, the Missouri Republican.

Despite a cold, Greenspan also showed up to work at the central bank's offices in the nation's capital, but the illness prompted him to cancel a flight Wednesday to Las Vegas to address a banking group.

Greenspan will address the Independent Community Bankers ofAmerica via a satellite hook-up, according to a Fed spokesman.

‘Nobody Knows But Alan Greenspan’

Cold or no cold, few doubt that Greenspan brings a zestful approach to the task of revitalizing the U.S. economy, faltering of late after a record-breaking 10 years of expansion.

But does Greenspan ever think of walking away from the blizzard of data on everything from factory orders to wholesale prices to intraday bank lendng rates in order to do something else with his life?

"Nobody is going to know that but Alan Greenspan," said Susan Phillips, a former Federal Reserve board governor who is now dean of the School of Business and Public Management at George Washington University. "He's very vigorous, an amazing person. He really enjoys what he's doing."

Greenspan, sometimes called the second most powerful man in America, was appointed Fed chief by President Reagan in 1987 and is now serving his fourth president, a testament to his political acumen and his reputation as a financial oracle.

He was appointed to a fourth term last year by President Clinton. That term expires in 2004.

Term Expires in Election Year

Phillips said that the chairman is bothered by the fact that because of delays in earlier reappointments, his current term expires in a national election year. It's possible Greenspan "might resign [early] to get out of the election cycle," Phillips said.

But Greenspan is unlikely to leave before the two vacancies on the Fed's board of governors are filled, Phillips said.

"It's not as if things don't function, but all governors have their assignments. With two vacancies, others have to take up slack," she said. "And there's a steep learning curve for new governors."

While Greenspan gets the lion's share of the credit for the longest-running economic expanison in U.S. history, he's not immune from criticism.

Critics say his obsession with inflation leads to a monetary policy that favors the wealthy. More recently, Greenspan has been criticized for his willingness to get drawn into the public debate over tax cuts by offering his view that lower taxes are preferable to increased government spending.

But few want to contemplate what the economy would be like without Greenspan.

Arizona Sen. John McCain captured the sentiment of many Americans during his campaign last year for the GOP presidential nomination. McCain was asked during a debate with then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush whether, as president, he would reappoint Greenspan.

"Not only would I reappoint him," McCain said, "but if he died we'd prop him up and put sunglasses on him as they did in the movie Weekend at Bernie's."

Reuters contributed to this report.