Editing Alan Greenspan (section)

==Objectivism==
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In the early 1950s, Greenspan began an association with novelist and [[Objectivism|Objectivist]] philosopher [[Ayn Rand]].<ref name="TurbRevKinsley">{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/books/review/Kinsley-t.html |title =Greenspan Shrugged |first=Michael |last=Kinsley |author-link=Michael Kinsley |work=The New York Times |date=October 14, 2007 |access-date=November 8, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124033522/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/books/review/Kinsley-t.html |archive-date=January 24, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Greenspan was introduced to Rand by his first wife, Joan Mitchell. Rand nicknamed Greenspan "the undertaker" because of his penchant for dark clothing and reserved demeanor. Although Greenspan was initially a [[logical positivist]],{{Sfn|Greenspan|2007|p=41}} he was converted to Rand's philosophy of [[Objectivism]] by her associate [[Nathaniel Branden]]. He became one of the members of Rand's inner circle, [[the Ayn Rand Collective]], who read ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'' while it was being written. During the 1950s and 1960s, Greenspan was a proponent of Objectivism, writing articles for Objectivist newsletters and contributing several essays for Rand's 1966 book ''[[Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal]]'' including an essay supporting the [[gold standard]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Greenspan |first=Alan |date=July 1966 |title=Gold and Economic Freedom |journal=[[The Objectivist]] |volume=5 |issue=7 |url=http://www.constitution.org/mon/greenspan_gold.htm |access-date=October 16, 2008 |archive-date=September 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925231456/http://constitution.org/mon/greenspan_gold.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Harriet |last=Rubin |title= Ayn Rand's Literature of Capitalism |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/15/business/15atlas.html |work=The New York Times |date=September 15, 2007 |access-date=January 5, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080316181158/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/15/business/15atlas.html |archive-date=March 16, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> During the 1960s, Greenspan offered a ten-lecture course, "The Economics of a Free Society", under the auspices of the [[Nathaniel Branden Institute]]. The course highlighted the causes of prosperity and depression, the consequences of government intervention, and the fallacies of collectivist economics.<ref>{{Cite book |title=[[My Years with Ayn Rand]] |last=Branden |first=Nathaniel |location=San Francisco |publisher=Jossey Bass |year=1999 |isbn=0-7879-4513-7 |oclc=39391081}}</ref> Rand stood beside him at his 1974 swearing-in as chairman of the [[Council of Economic Advisers]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dowd |first1=Maureen |title=Where 'Atlas Shrugged' is still read - forthrightly |work=The New York Times |date=September 13, 1987 |ref=Gale Document Number: GALE A176079182 |location=[[Gale]] General OneFile |quote=Miss Rand first persuaded Mr. Greenspan to go into Government, as an economic adviser to President Nixon. She said he could help curb spending and move government 'toward reason as a last resort.' 'When I met Ayn Rand, I was a free enterpriser in the Adam Smith sense - impressed with the theoretical structure and efficiency of markets,' Mr. Greenspan said in 1974. 'What she did - through long discussions and lots of arguments into the night - was to make me think why capitalism is not only efficient and practical, but also moral.'}}</ref> Greenspan and Rand remained friends until her death in 1982.<ref name="TurbRevKinsley" />

Greenspan has come under criticism from [[Harry Binswanger]],<ref>{{cite news |first=Harry |last=Binswanger |author-link=Harry Binswanger |title=Greenspan on 'Infectious Greed' |url=http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?id=1825 |work= Capitalism Magazine |date=August 30, 2002 |access-date=October 17, 2008}}</ref> who believes his actions while at work for the Federal Reserve and his publicly expressed opinions on other issues show abandonment of Objectivist and [[free market]] principles. When questioned in relation to this, however, he has said that in a democratic society individuals have to make compromises with each other over conflicting ideas of how money should be handled. He said he himself had to make such compromises, because he believes that "we did extremely well" without a central bank and with a [[gold standard]].<ref>{{cite video |date=October 15, 2007 |title=Alan Greenspan on FOX Business Network |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjMQG3qUFKo  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/ZjMQG3qUFKo| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|publisher=[[Fox Business Network]], YouTube |access-date=June 22, 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In a congressional hearing on October 23, 2008, Greenspan admitted that his free-market ideology shunning certain regulations was flawed.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ah5qh9Up4rIg|title= Greenspan Concedes to 'Flaw' in His Market Ideology |first1=Scott |last1 =Lanman |first2=Steve |last2=Matthews |publisher=Bloomberg |date=October 23, 2008 |access-date=June 22, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930221027/https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ah5qh9Up4rIg|archive-date=September 30, 2009}}</ref> When asked about free markets and Rand's ideas, however, Greenspan clarified his stance on ''[[laissez faire]]'' capitalism and asserted that in a democratic society there could be no better alternative. He stated that the errors that were made stemmed not from the principle, but from the application of competitive markets in "assuming what the nature of risks would be".<ref>{{cite video |date=April 4, 2010 |title= Interview with Alan Greenspan |url= https://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/video/interview-alan-greenspan-10281612 |publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |access-date=April 4, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100409012115/https://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/video/interview-alan-greenspan-10281612 |archive-date=April 9, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

E. Ray Canterbery has chronicled Greenspan's relationship with Rand, and has concluded that the influence has had pernicious effects on Greenspan's monetary policy.<ref>{{cite book |title=Alan Greenspan: The Oracle Behind the Curtain |url=https://archive.org/details/alangreenspanora0000cant |url-access=registration |last=Canterbery |first=E. Ray |location=Singapore |publisher=[[World Scientific]] |year=2006|isbn=9789812566065 }}</ref>