After the 1987 stock market crash the Fed eased aggressively, giving the impression it would rescue markets, leading to talk of a 'Greenspan put'.

True: after the October 1987 stock-market crash, the Federal Reserve under Greenspan visibly eased policy (announcing that it stood ready to provide liquidity, cutting the federal funds rate or other easing), and this episode is widely cited as the start of the market belief in a Fed backstop known as the 'Greenspan put'. Mostly true: the easing and liquidity support happened and the 1987 episode is cited as an origin of the 'Greenspan put' idea, but the easing was modest rather than 'aggressive', or the term itself came into use only later. Mixed: the Fed provided liquidity but did not materially ease rates, and sources dispute that 1987 began the 'put' perception. Mostly false: the 'Greenspan put' perception is generally traced to later episodes, with the 1987 response playing only a minor role. False: the Fed did not ease after the 1987 crash.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 The Fed, the Stock Market, and the "Greenspan Put" Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (Econ Focus) · 8 March 2023

   “The October 1987 intervention became the first part of the Greenspan put lore. Yet to some analysts, the Fed's actions on that occasion hardly amounted to a put option.”

2. E2 A Brief History of the 1987 Stock Market Crash with a Discussion of the Federal Reserve Response Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FEDS working paper) · 1 May 2007

   “The Federal Reserve followed-up the statement by carrying out open market operations that pushed the federal funds rate down to around 7 percent on Tuesday from over 7.5 percent on Monday (see Figure 5).”

3. E3 The Fed, the Stock Market, and the "Greenspan Put" Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (Econ Focus) · 8 March 2023

   “A third episode in the lore took place when the Fed cut short-term interest rates amid declining equity prices in January 2001. (This was the episode that prompted the Financial Times to declare that there's "a Greenspan put option.")”

A Federal Reserve Board history (E2) shows the Fed followed its post-crash statement with open market operations that pushed the federal funds rate from over 7.5 percent to around 7 percent, so the Fed did ease. The Richmond Fed (E1) calls the October 1987 intervention "the first part of the Greenspan put lore," though it notes some analysts doubt the actions amounted to a put. E4 says the January 2001 rate cuts were the episode that prompted the Financial Times to declare there was 'a Greenspan put option'. That fits the mostly-true criterion: the easing [E2] and the origin story [E1] hold, though some analysts doubt that the 1987 actions amounted to a put option [E1].