Alan Greenspan, who died today at the age of 100 from complications of Parkinson's disease, occupied a singular place in the history of ideas: he was the only member of Ayn Rand's inner circle to go on and run the world's most powerful central bank. That trajectory—from acolyte of laissez-faire capitalism to the chairman who, for nearly two decades, held more sway over the American economy than perhaps anyone besides the President—makes him one of the most consequential, and most complicated, figures Objectivism ever produced.

Jun 22, 2026

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3 min