Alan Greenspan, who died yesterday at age 100, shaped America’s current economy possibly more than any other man in recent history. The bbc yesterday called him the “architect of the modern American economy.” What is his legacy?

• The longest-serving Federal Reserve chairman, Greenspan’s tenure from 1987–2006 coincided with four presidents. He saw 18 years of economic growth and helped bring the U.S. economy through several difficulties, ranging from the October 1987 stock market crash to the dot-com crash in 2000.

Though highly regarded, his policies also laid the groundwork for the fulfillment of Bible prophecies regarding America’s downfall.

• While he was in office, the money supply increased as much as 300 percent, causing significant devaluation of the dollar.

As the Trumpet wrote in 2006 when he stepped down: “One of the not-so-obvious but enormously negative consequences of Mr. Greenspan’s economic policy has been the continual erosion of the dollar’s value. His guiding principle of managed low inflation, not zero inflation, is one factor that has led to the colossal loss in purchasing power of the dollar.”

• Since he stepped down, the problem has gotten even worse, and the dollar has lost 40 percent of its value.

Greenspan liked keeping interest rates as low as possible, providing the economy with easy money. This fuels borrowing by both the government and businesses.

• Throughout Greenspan’s tenure, the national debt tripled. Government borrowing contributes to inflation and dollar devaluation.

Speculation fueled by low interest rates also leads to economic bubbles that will eventually pop.

• The dot-com bubble swelled due to a low-interest-rate environment. Its crash had catastrophic ramifications, such as a 2 percent rise in unemployment and a recession in 2001.
• The current AI boom has also been caused by low interest rates, as subsequent Federal Reserve chairs continued Greenspan’s policies.

America’s financial future is in jeopardy. The U.S. national debt has surpassed $39 trillion; inflation is at a three-year high.

• Decades of easy money will exact a catastrophic price and culminate in a financial crisis that makes the 2008 crisis, which occurred in part due to Greenspan’s easy money policies, seem minuscule.

The root cause of this financial danger is not Alan Greenspan but rather America’s disobedience to God’s laws regarding finance. Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 warn that financial curses will affect America due to its failure to look to God. Read more in our Trends article “Why the Trumpet Watches America’s Economic Collapse.”