Alan Greenspan, longtime head of the US federal reserve, dies aged 100

Alan Greenspan, the influential economist who ​steered US ⁠monetary policy ⁠during ​his ‌five ‌terms as chair ‌of the Federal Reserve ‌under four presidents, ​has died aged 100.

The central bank said its former chair “helped establish the credibility that remains one of the Federal Reserve’s most important assets” in a statement on Monday that announced Greenspan’s death.

In a separate statement that she shared with NBC News, Andrea Mitchell – Greenspan’s wife and a correspondent of the network – said he died from complications of Parkinson’s disease. “He will be remembered for his brilliance and his kindness,” Mitchell’s statement to NBC said.

Greenspan chaired the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006, serving under the presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton and George W Bush.

He was widely credited with presiding over a period of growth and prosperity in the US while helming the Fed under three Republicans and a Democrat, gaining bipartisan political support in the process.

But the country’s housing market collapsed shortly after he left office, ushering in a devastating financial crisis that plunged the national economy into the worst recession since the 1930s and the Great Depression – and prompting a re-evaluation of his legacy.