Greenspan Nominated To 5th Term As Fed Chief

Bush Says Economist Has Done 'Superb Job'

President Bush yesterday nominated Alan Greenspan to serve a fifth term as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, providing financial markets with a source of stability at a time of economic transition.

Bush said more than a year ago that he intended to nominate Greenspan, 78, whose current four-year term as chairman expires June 20. And Greenspan had indicated then that he would happily accept. But the lack of movement on the matter since then had provoked some speculation among analysts that either of the two men might have had a change of heart.

The president put that to rest yesterday, issuing a statement announcing his intention to renominate the chairman and adding, "Alan Greenspan has done a superb job . . . and I have great confidence in his economic stewardship."

Greenspan, who met with Bush yesterday, responded with a statement saying he was honored by the opportunity "to continue my service" as central bank chief.

Financial markets had little reaction to the news. If Greenspan had not been renominated at some point, "there would have been great instability" in the markets, said Diane Swonk, chief economist for Bank One Corp. The action provides "much-needed certainty in what was becoming an uncertain world."

Senate confirmation should be swift and easy, given the breadth of Greenspan's support in Congress. Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, "believes Chairman Greenspan has done an outstanding job and looks forward to supporting his nomination in the Senate," said Andrew Gray, the committee spokesman.

Greenspan was first appointed Fed chairman in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan to replace outgoing chairman Paul A. Volcker, who has been credited with launching the long, painful and ultimately successful central bank campaign to bring inflation down from the double-digit highs it hit in the late 1970s.

Greenspan was reappointed as chairman once by President George H.W. Bush and twice by President Bill Clinton.

Some of the jitters about Greenspan's prospects this year arose from memories of how some in the first Bush White House blamed the Fed chairman for not cutting interest rates quickly enough in response to the 1990-91 recession, which they believe helped cost that president the 1992 election.

The elder Bush once said of Greenspan, "I reappointed him and he disappointed me."