Alan Greenspan's Federal Reserve tenure, encompassing the Great Moderation and leading to the Great Recession, was impactful. A free-market believer, he controversially bet on a productivity surge for low rates and, crucially, financial market self-regulation. The 2008 crisis disproved his self-regulation theory, prompting admission of a "flaw in the model." The author argues the true lessons are strict market regulation and competent leadership, thus critically assessing Greenspan's core economic philosophy and its ultimate failures, despite his influence.