Alan Greenspan to discuss new book on economic forecasting at Club Nov. 6

Alan Greenspan, former longtime chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, will discuss his newest book, "The Map and the Territory: Risk, Human Nature, and the Future of Forecasting" on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 6:30 p.m. in the National Press Club Ballroom. A book signing will follow the discussion.

This is a ticketed event and registration is required here. All attendees must have a ticket. This event is a fundraiser for the NPC Journalism Institute. No outside books or memorabilia are permitted.

Like all Americans, though few so visibly, Greenspan was forced by the financial crisis of 2008 to question fundamental assumptions about risk management and economic forecasting. No one with any meaningful role in economic decision making in the world saw beforehand the storm for what it was. How had economic models so utterly failed?

To answer this question, Greenspan embarked on a rigorous and far-reaching multiyear examination of how homo economicus predicts the economic future, and how it can predict it better. "The Map and the Territory" is an effort to update the forecasting conceptual grid using 21st Century technologies. It integrates the history of economic prediction, the new work of behavioral economists, and the fruits of the author's own career to offer a lucid and empirically based grounding in what we can know about economic forecasting and what we can't.

Greenspan was born in 1926 in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. After studying the clarinet at Juilliard and working as a professional musician, he earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in economics from New York University. In 1954, he co-founded the economic consulting firm Townsend-Greenspan & Co. From 1974 to 1977, he served as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Gerald Ford. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan appointed him chairman of the Federal Reserve, a position he held until his retirement in 2006.