Maestro
Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom
Bob Woodward
- 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.
Maestro
- traces
- a
- fascinating
- intellectual
- journey
- as
- Greenspan,
- an
- old-school
- anti-inflation
- hawk
- of
- the
- traditional
- economy,
- is
- among
- the
- first
- to
- realize
- the
- potential
- in
- the
- modern,
- high-productivity
- new
- economy
- --
- the
- foundation
- of
- the
- current
- American
- boom.
- Woodward's
- account
- of
- the
- Greenspan
- years
- is
- a
- remarkable
- portrait
- of
- a
- man
- who
- has
- become
- the
- symbol
- of
- American
- economic preeminence.
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