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Liked It “To me the best part of the book is the view of recent presidential history, Ford to W. from a single stable figure who had a hand in all these administrations. It's too bad he didn't wait a year longer to write this book (when S*** really hit the fan). Even if you don't agree with every...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Much to talk about nothing. I grabbed this book when everybody was talking about the financial crisis to know what did the most influential man in that field had to say. He surprised me to answer that question simply "I don't know." The Fed has been pumping billions of dollars into the market and...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“To me the best part of the book is the view of recent presidential history, Ford to W. from a single stable figure who had a hand in all these administrations. It's too bad he didn't wait a year longer to write this book (when S*** really hit the fan). Even if you don't agree with every deregulated turn our economy has taken in the last 45 years (i don't) this is an interesting and accessible book from one of the most powerful men of our time. ”
Levi F wrote this review Monday, October 12 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“For a child of the '80s, this book offers great insight into the political climate which led to the bits of history we (read: I) vaguely remember seeing on television. Also, in one chapter he details the assumptions which formed the foundation for the deregulation of the financial markets. Since this book was published prior to the economic collapse, it's a pretty "interesting" read for those curious about where we went wrong.”
wjrobbins2 wrote this review Monday, September 28 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Believe it or not I found him to be an extremely interesting person! A little dry here and there but I was facinated by his genius!”
Christina R wrote this review Thursday, August 27 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I listened to this during a drive to New Jersey and back via CD borrowed from the library. Greenspan, while tedious with some of his detail and explanation, is a highly intelligent person who can explain his reasoning and studies of the economy quite clearly and understandably. I found the personal side of Greenspan to be quite interesting as well. His discussions on the involvement with the inner circle of Ayn Rand were illuminating to me and he brought much to light concerning the Ford, Nixon, Reagan, and Bush presidencies by revealing some of his relationships with these presidents. ”
Donna wrote this review Saturday, August 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Much to talk about nothing. I grabbed this book when everybody was talking about the financial crisis to know what did the most influential man in that field had to say. He surprised me to answer that question simply "I don't know." The Fed has been pumping billions of dollars into the market and adjusting interest rate, not really knowing how complicated the situation was. The current understanding and regulation of the market is not enough. Mr. Greenspan was lucky to lead the Fed during all those long years without getting caught.”
masroujeh wrote this review Thursday, August 20 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Good book. But as you can expect, Greenspan write's like he talks. I had to read several sections over again to get to what he was saying.”
Dan P wrote this review Wednesday, August 12 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“this is a good book”
Matheus S wrote this review Thursday, July 16 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A brief history of Economics and politics through a wise economist.
Marc Koh wrote this review Thursday, June 11 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Informative and a must read for all Economic students.”
“This book is mostly being judged in the context of the current crisis, and the propensity to dismiss Greenspan's thoughts as someone who's been singing kumbaya all along. That's a rather harsh view and does injustice to this really fascinating book. The book is divided into his early life, experiences as an economist and then as fed chairman, and finally his thoughts on a wide range of topics. While the first two parts are interesting, the last part provides a lot of original insights. Obviously the former chairman's primary concerns are about the free markets, monetary policy, regulation and about inflationary forces in the future. Below are some main points from the book
sundaraz wrote this review Sunday, April 26 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Present US current account deficit does not have alarming consequences as is generally imagined. A lot depends on the free flow of savings and investments across the globe.
Medicare is going to be a tougher problem than Social Security simply because of the unpredictability and the rising nature of health care costs. The solution is going to be either higher taxes or cut in benefits which takes a lot of political will.
The disinflationary forces in play over the past decades largely through the joining of mainstream economy by developing nations will subdue after a while. This will obviously lead to inflation and tougher decisions in the future.
US education system has a large role to play in the development of skilled labor, which in turn would reduce the recent income inequalities to some extent.
He does not foresee US being sidetracked by any other nation as the economic powerhouse of the world in the near future. The strength of its institutions and the risk-taking culture is hard to replicate that easily.
There are so many interesting issues discussed throughout this book. Comparisons of planned economy and free markets, comments on almost all the economies, corporate governance (the development of authoritarianism of CEOs because of lesser shareholder oversight), etc.. It was also interesting to note his comments on India; How its fascination with Fabian socialism has cost its development, how central planning inherently supports bureaucracy, and how the current outsourcing services even though small, offers a glimmer of hope.
Really worth the money and time to read this book!!”
