“Fear and euphoria are dominant forces, and fear is many multiples the size of euphoria. Bubbles go up very slowly as euphoria builds. Then fear hits, and it comes down very sharply. When I started to look at that, I was sort of intellectually shocked. Contagion is the critical phenomenon which causes the thing to fall apart.”

American economist

Alan Greenspan is an American economist best known for serving as the 13th chair of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. He later worked as a private adviser and consultant through his firm, Greenspan Associates LLC. His public reputation rests on his long tenure at the Federal Reserve, where he helped shape U.S. monetary policy for nearly two decades. After leaving office, he continued to advise firms in a private capacity, bringing the same economic perspective to consulting work.