Alan Greenspan, who led the Federal Reserve under four presidents from both parties, died yesterday at age 100 from Parkinson’s disease complications. The celebrity economist played a lead role in shaping US economic policy while chairing the Fed between 1987 and 2006, a period of massive wealth creation.

Greenspan was hailed for his well-timed interest rate moves to fight inflation, while promoting economic growth. But many prominent economists also blamed his championing of financial deregulation for causing the 2008 financial crisis.

Greenspanomics

Entering government during the Ford administration after co-founding a successful economic forecasting firm, Greenspan became known for basing decisions on meticulous data analysis rather than textbook economics. He ultimately gained guru status for deftly managing monetary policy, including during one of the longest economic booms in the country’s history between 1991 and 2001:

• He helped engineer a swift recovery from a massive financial crash during the late Reagan administration by slashing interest rates and pouring money into the economy.
• In the mid-90s, he presided over rate increases to stem price growth without causing a recession, a tough balancing act known as a soft landing.
• He later didn’t heed calls to keep hiking rates amid an economic upswing, correctly foreseeing that productivity gains from personal computers would help tame inflation.

Greenspan was infamous for using hard-to-decipher jargon known as Fedspeak, but he also pioneered interest rate change announcements as a way to guide markets.

On the other hand…

Shaping the economy comes with criticism. Some said the notion that Greenspan would always rescue the stock market led investors to make riskier bets.

An acolyte of libertarian writer Ayn Rand, Greenspan lobbied for light-touch financial regulation during the Clinton years. That, combined with his refusal to raise interest rates and rein in subprime mortgage lenders to stamp out the housing bubble in the 2000s, caused some (including the bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission) to say he was partially responsible for the Great Recession.

His influence remains….“Chairman Greenspan’s legacy endures at the Federal Reserve—in those he mentored directly, in the economists and public servants he inspired, and in the frameworks and practices he helped shape,” the Fed said yesterday.—SK

US eases sanctions on Iran’s oil. As negotiators work to hammer out a final peace deal, the Treasury Department yesterday suspended sanctions on Iranian oil for 60 days, reversing longstanding US policy. The US will allow Iran to sell its oil in US dollars for the first time in decades. The change should make it easier for Iran to profit from its oil without continuing to rely on a shadow network to sell mostly to China. The move came as Vice President JD Vance said the weekend’s talks in Switzerland “laid a very good foundation for a successful final deal.” Vance, who returned from Switzerland while technical negotiators remained for further talks, also said Iran had agreed to allow nuclear inspectors back into the country, but Iranian officials did not confirm this and said “no new commitments” had been made.

SpaceX inked another big AI computing deal. SpaceX may not be colonizing Mars yet, but the newly public company is making headway in becoming an AI infrastructure provider here on Earth. Yesterday, the company inked a deal worth up to $6.3 billion to provide access to its Colossus 2 data center to startup Reflection AI for $150 million per month. This comes after it already made computing power deals with Anthropic, Google, and Cursor (a company SpaceX is now acquiring). The announcement wasn’t enough to curb a stock selloff, but it does help show off a potential profit center. The company is also reportedly planning to issue $20 billion in bonds this week.—AR

Lionel Messi becomes the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer. After failing to convert a penalty try earlier in the first half, Messi buried a shot in transition to put Argentina ahead of Austria 1-0 and break a tie with Germany legend Miroslav Klose for the most goals in tournament history with 17. Then, in the closing minutes, he scored again to seal a 2-0 win and push his record to 18 goals. With the victory, the defending champions advanced to the knockout round. Messi, who turns 39 tomorrow, might not hold the record for long—27-year-old France superstar Kylian Mbappé is breathing down his neck, and scored his 16th career World Cup goal yesterday.—DL

The Letterboxd warriors are going to have some long-winded opinions about this. Google is investing $75 million into fan-favorite indie movie studio A24 to collaborate on AI tools. The partnership marks a major step in an industry filled with vocal AI critics.

A24, the studio behind Backrooms, won’t be using AI to make movies, but rather working with Google to develop tools like AI-generated storyboards. Other studios have rolled out AI partnerships, though not all have lasted:

• Lionsgate announced a deal in 2024 with Runway AI to help producers visualize a film before greenlighting it.
• A deal between Disney and OpenAI quickly fell apart when the AI giant shut down its much-hyped video generation program, Sora.
• In March, Netflix acquired Ben Affleck’s AI post-production tech company.

Big picture: Despite both companies framing the deal as the good kind of AI, it’s a big gamble for A24, which has built a loyal audience by taking risks on young, emerging talent. Some of the studio’s biggest artists, like Backrooms director Kane Parsons, have repeatedly criticized the technology.—MM

If you can’t trust influencers and a prediction market platform that’s banned in the US, who can you trust? That’s what many people likely asked themselves after the Wall Street Journal reported that Polymarket used fake wagers, a dummy website, and online creators to make predatory ads targeting Americans.

Million-dollar lie: The WSJ’s analysis found creator claims of ~$900,000 in winnings, but if those bets had really been placed, they would have lost ~$166,000.

According to the WSJ report, the scammy content worked like this:

• College-aged creators posted videos of themselves making winning bets. But these were actually made on a fake Polymarket site created by the company (the lowercase ‘l’ was replaced by a capital ‘i’).
• Then, Polymarket paid a marketing firm for clipping, i.e., deploying numerous “sockpuppet” accounts that hid their affiliation with Polymarket, to repost the videos to make them go viral.

According to materials seen by the WSJ, the clippers were only paid if 60% or more of their audience was in the US. Though Polymarket can’t legally operate in the States, it can be accessed via VPN.

Polymarket told CBS News that it is launching an internal investigation into the videos.

Is this illegal? Federal laws require truthful advertising and anyone promoting a product to disclose their business ties. The CFTC wouldn’t comment on potential investigations to the WSJ.—DL

On Tuesdays, the Brew’s Matty Merritt brings you the news you need to make life a little easier during your 9-5, 5-9, or OOO.

Where have all the good men gone? Maybe they’re broke. A new Bank of America survey found that 51% of respondents aged 18 to 29 spent $0 per month on dates this year, suggesting that Gen Z might be pulling back on wining and dining to save money.

Finding love isn’t cheap: In February, BMO Financial Group reported that the average cost of a date (which includes gas, food, grooming, and more) hit $189, up 12.5% from last year—which laps the 2.7% inflation rate over the same period.

It’s not just dating: 40% of Gen Zers surveyed said they’ve cut back on dining out, 24% passed on events with friends, and 20% have started shopping at cheaper grocery stores.—MM