Maestro: Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom

Overview

In eight Tuesdays each year, Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan convenes a small committee to set the short-term interest rate that can move through the American and world economies like an electric jolt. As much as any, the committee's actions determine the economic well-being of every American. The availability of money for business or consumer loans, mortgages, job creation and overall national economic growth flows from those decisions. Perhaps the last Washington secret is how the Federal Reserve and its enigmatic chairman, Alan Greenspan, operate. In Maestro, Bob Woodward takes you inside the Fed and Greenspan's thinking. We listen to the Fed's internal debates as the American economy is pushed into a historic 10-year expansion while the world economy lurches from financial crisis to financial crisis. Greenspan plays a sometimes subtle, sometimes blunt behind-the-scenes role. He appears in Maestro up close as never before -- alternately nervous and calm, plunging into mathematics one moment and politics the next, skeptical, dispassionate, always struggling -- often alone.

Editorial Reviews

Either Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan has had an amazingly long run of remarkably good luck, or he knows what he's doing and really is what most observers believe him to be, the maestro of the rock-solid prospering American economy. Washington Post reporter Woodward of Watergate fame attempts to write an incisive biography, and yet Greenspan remains an elusive and enigmatic figure. Early in his adulthood he was a devotee of Ayn Rand and once briefly attended Juilliard; he is famed for his elliptical language, and if he gets too explicit, the market strengthens or weakens depending on the direction of his words. Descriptions of such behavior are presented by the author, but, unfortunately for listening excitement, Greenspan is neither flamboyant nor given to spectacular intrigue. Much of the book, of course, deals with meetings of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee which makes headlines whenever it raises or lowers an interest rate. The chairman is evidently very good at prodding, cajoling, and just plain reasoning with the Board of Governors until most of them see things his way. James Naughton has a grave, matter-of-fact approach, and it is always nice to hear the recognizable voice of Woodward himself as he closes the presentation. Recommended for collections dealing with modern politics and financial institutions. Don Wismer, Cary Memorial Lib., Wayne, ME Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY.

Author Information

Bio of Bob Woodward

Bob Woodward, a reporter and editor at The Washington Post since 1971. Bob Woodward is the author or co-author of seven #1 national bestsellers, including "All the President's Men," "The Brethren," & "The Agenda." He is Assistant Managing Editor of "The Washington Post" & lives in Washington, D.C.

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Additional Info

Imprint

Simon & Schuster

Filesize

760.59 KB

Number of Pages

288

eBook ISBN

9780743215374