Senate Confirms Greenspan for 4th Fed Term

The U.S. Senate, on a 89-4 vote, confirmed Alan Greenspan, 73, for a fourth term as Federal Reserve chairman. A majority of senators expressed admiration for Greenspan’s record since he took over at the Fed in 1987 and helped to steer the U.S. economy to a record run of growth. The opposing votes were cast by Democratic senators who said the Fed’s recent interest-rate increases are posing a threat to working Americans, who will now face higher borrowing costs on consumer debt and mortgages. In a separate action, the Federal Open Market Committee released the minutes of its December meeting, which show that the members voted unanimously to keep interest rates steady for fear of rattling financial markets ahead of the year 2000 date change. The panel decided it could wait until its Feb. 1-2 meeting to deal with inflation risks. On Wednesday, the Fed raised its target for the federal funds rate on overnight loans among banks to 5.75% from 5.5%.