Macro Musings with David Beckworth · Monday, August 31, 2026
Donald Kohn described his role in mentoring Alan Greenspan when Greenspan first joined the Federal Reserve in 1987. Kohn explained that Greenspan needed guidance on Fed operations and staff interactions, and Kohn provided this institutional knowledge.
“And you mentioned when Alan Greenspan joined, that he turned to you and that he relied heavily on you and that he even said you were his, like, tutor of sorts, right?”
“Mentor. Wow. Tell us about that.”
“Well, I think I think he was being nice. To a certain extent, when he arrived in 1987, he needed instruction on how the Fed worked, how to interact with the staff, what to do.”
“So I did some mentoring of that sort, you know, the arcane ways that the Fed works. And we were partners to some extent, but he was the senior partner, no question about that.”