Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist and Chairman of the Federal Reserve. He is considered by many to be the leading authority and key participant concerning United States domestic economic policy. For example, he has been instrumental in how the U.S. government deals with inflation. Given the breadth of his experience, he has been referred to in the media as "the economist's economist". He was appointed to the position in 1987 by Ronald Reagan. As Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Greenspan is the leader of the central bank of the United States and one of the most important players in American economic policies. The Federal Reserve System (also known as the Federal Reserve or simply "The Fed") is the central bank of the United States. It was created by the United States Congress and enacted on December 23, 1913, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Owen-Glass Act into law. "Federal Reserve" was a carefully selected name - "Federal" implying that this is a government organization. "Reserve" implying that the Federal Reserve notes (i.e., all United States currency) issued is backed by gold and/or silver. In fact, the Federal Reserve is a private corporation, authorized by Congress but owned by private member banks. Federal Reserve notes are not redeemable in gold, silver or any other commodity, and receive no backing by anything. The notes have no value for themselves, but for what they will buy and because the government of the United States accepts these notes for payment of taxes. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Greenspan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chairman_of_the_Federal_Reserve http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve)