Investing: Six People Who Helped Shape a Tumultuous Decade

Bloomberg BusinessWeek identifies the people who had the greatest impact on the investing arena in the past decade

By Ben Steverman

Financial markets are all about herd behavior. Especially in a decade marked by repeated bouts of collective euphoria and collective panic, it's difficult to find individuals who stood out.

Yet some key figures did make their mark during the aughts, the pre-teens, or whatever the 2000s will ultimately be known as. Bloomberg BusinessWeek wanted to identify the handful of people who most affected individual investors over the past 10 years.

Our choices are admittedly subjective. Indeed, several other names came close to making the roster—and they are listed as "honorable mentions" at the end of this article. (We'd certainly like to hear your ideas on the topic via the comments section below.)

1. Alan Greenspan

From 1987 to 2006, former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan set interest rates for the world's largest economy. And, through most of that period, he kept rates very low.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Greenspan was called the "maestro" for his ability to prop up flagging markets or boost the economy. "He was deified," says David Darst, head strategist at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. "Now, he's being demonized."

The chief criticism, says independent market strategist Doug Peta: "Greenspan did a lot to create the conditions for the credit bubble that occurred in the decade." His hands-off approach meant that he did little to discourage bubbles in Internet stocks and housing prices. But, contradictorily, he did a lot when the market faltered, such as after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks or the Asian financial crisis.

His interventions encouraged investors to take too many wild risks, critics say. "If the markets were down, he was always there to protect them," says William Rutherford, president of Rutherford Investment Management and author of Who Shot Goldilocks?: How Alan Greenspan Did In Our Jobs, Savings, and Retirement Plans.

Would another Fed chairman have done the same thing, given the economic conditions at the time? Maybe, Darst says. "Greenspan was an expression of the national will," he says. But now, "when everything is going wrong, everybody looks for a scapegoat."

Through a spokeswoman, Greenspan declined to comment.

2. Chinese President Hu Jintao and 3. Premier Wen Jiabao

Behind closed doors, these two men set policy for the earth's most populous nation—with few checks on their power. Since both took their current jobs in 2003, they have continued China's economic liberalization. It's a process that began in the late 1970s but significantly altered the investing landscape in the past decade.

For example, China's low labor costs and cheap exports have helped keep inflation low around the world.

"China has lowered the costs of capital and allowed us to do aggressive—and, it turned out, foolish—things," says Todd McCallister, managing director at Eagle Asset Management. The deflationary effect of China was one reason Greenspan and other central bankers could keep interest rates so low, encouraging increased risk-taking around the globe, McCallister argues.

China and the U.S. have spent the past decade locked in an unbalanced relationship, in which American consumers gobble up Chinese imports while the Chinese government keeps its currency low and buys up U.S. government debt.

The strength of the Chinese economy and the rise of other emerging markets like India and Brazil have also changed where investors put their money. "What you're seeing is the global economy becoming much less U.S.-centric," says David Rosenberg, chief economist at investment manager Gluskin Sheff.

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