Alan Greenspan. Alan Greenspan (/ˈælɨn ˈɡriːnspæn/; born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. He currently works as a private adviser and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC. First appointed Federal Reserve chairman by President Ronald Reagan in August 1987, he was reappointed at successive four-year intervals until retiring on January 31, 2006 after the second-longest tenure in the position. Greenspan came to the Federal Reserve Board from a successful consulting career. Early life and education[edit] Objectivism (Ayn Rand) Objectivism is a philosophical system that originated as the personal philosophy of Russian-born American writer Ayn Rand (1905–1982).[1] First developed in her novels and polemical essays,[2] it was later given more formal structure by her designated intellectual heir,[3] philosopher Leonard Peikoff, who characterizes it as a "closed system" that is not subject to change.[4] Academia has generally ignored or rejected her philosophy, but it has been a significant influence among libertarians and American conservatives.[5] The Objectivist movement, which Rand founded, attempts to spread her ideas to the public and in academic settings.[6] Rand originally expressed her philosophical ideas in her novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and other works.
She further elaborated on them in her periodicals The Objectivist Newsletter, The Objectivist, and The Ayn Rand Letter, and in non-fiction books such as Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology and The Virtue of Selfishness.[7] The Ayn Rand Institute: Introducing Objectivism. Ayn Rand wrote volumes urging people to be selfish.
What? Aren’t people already too selfish? Just do whatever you feel like, be a thoughtless jerk, and exploit people to get ahead. Easy, right? Except that acting thoughtlessly and victimizing others, Rand claims, is not in your self-interest.