Alan Greenspan, the influential economist who led monetary policy in the United States during his five terms as chairman of the Federal Reserve (the Fed, the US central bank), died this Monday at the age of 100 from Parkinson's, as reported by NBC News. Greenspan was one of the most influential economists of the second half of the 20th century and one of the most prominent names within the neoliberal economic paradigm initiated in the 1970s, which advocated for the independence of central banks, financial deregulation, free trade, tax cuts – especially for large fortunes and companies – and the privatization of public services.