Monday, January 30, 2006

Thank You, Mr. Greenspan

This is likely to get lost in the plethora of Greenspan tributes this week, but I will add mine anyway. As an educator, I have particularly enjoyed teaching economics, particularly issues related to monetary policy during Mr. Greenspan's tenure at the Fed. The issues that arose and the events that shaped this era were interesting from an educational perspective. And his handling of the events and explanation of the issues were always enlightening, at least to me.

While my high school teaching background was behind me by the time Mr. Greenspan took office, I was doing teacher education programs through the late 1980s and early 1990s, often at the local branch of a Federal Reserve Bank. Mr. Greenspan's handlings of the 1987 stock market crash, as well as the recession in the wake of the first Gulf War were, to me, textbooks to be used with other educators.

After coming to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, it was interesting to be "near the inside" to see how policy issues and financial events were handled. And having numerous opportunities to hear him speak left me with an appreciation for his abilities. While many people derided "Greenspeak", I frequently said that one only had to read his statements to understand them. Yes, they were challenging, but they were understandable if you took the time to think your way through them.

Anyway, thank you for teaching me and others, Mr. Greenspan, by your thought, your word and your action. It's been appreciated.

Comments and thoughts are welcome.

Posted by TSchilling at 4:06 PM | Comments (0)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You may be one of the few who agrees with me regarding "greenspeak". Because of Fed Challenge, reading the speeches and testimonies of the Chairman became routine. My students and I became accustomed to the syntax changes and understood what the Chairman was saying. Twice in D.C. my students and the other teams present received memorable compliments from Chairman Greenspan. It has been interesting watching "the Maestro" on various interview programs this week.