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93rd out of 100 books
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In FED We Trust: Ben Bernanke's War on the Great Panic
by
David Wessel
“Whatever it takes”
That was Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s vow as the worst financial panic in more than fifty years gripped the world and he struggled to avoid the once unthinkable: a repeat of the Great Depression. Brilliant but temperamentally cautious, Bernanke researched and wrote about the causes of the Depression during his career as an academic. Then when ...more
That was Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s vow as the worst financial panic in more than fifty years gripped the world and he struggled to avoid the once unthinkable: a repeat of the Great Depression. Brilliant but temperamentally cautious, Bernanke researched and wrote about the causes of the Depression during his career as an academic. Then when ...more
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published
August 4th 2009
by Crown Business
(first published 2009)
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This book focuses on Ben Bernanke, the head of the Federal Reserve, and the actions his office took throughout the worst of the financial crisis. It is an impressive book, with excellent access to high-level officials, and does a great job putting the many overlapping issues in context with others. For those now looking back on 2008 and especially the fall of ‘08 as a big pile of crises, one on top of another, In Fed We Trust does a good job walking through each, exploring the deals and negoti...more
Yet another book about the Crash of '08, this one told from the perspective of Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve. The writing is fluid and at times elegant. Wessel explains the nuts and bolts of central bankery well, although it can still be hard to grasp just how much power and money the Federal Reserve has under its control. Like the military and the courts, the Fed is supposed to lie outside politics, and for the most part Wessel describes a Fed whose chairman and governors focus intently ...more
When I got to page 150 I knew this was the book I was looking for. An account of the “Great Panic of 2008” seen through the eyes of someone who thinks the Glass Steagall Act of 1999 played a significant role. In fact, this is someone who will present a case contrary to the book I recently read by Thomas Sowell, who placed all the blame on political stunts designed to make housing affordable to all. Wessel writes for the WSJ, and so I was a little stunned to read references to Glass Steagall b...more
The book in general was a little too Bob Woodward for me -- that is, focusing too much on individuals without discussing broader historical/economic/etc. contexts. It was better than Woodward in that respect (hard to be worse), especially in the second half of the book, but still very individual-centric. The basic thesis is that Bernanke rocks.
That said, it did help put Bear Stearns, Lehman, and AIG into somewhat better perspective. And I know a lot more about the Fed than I did. ...more
That said, it did help put Bear Stearns, Lehman, and AIG into somewhat better perspective. And I know a lot more about the Fed than I did. ...more
…about a year ago, America was pretty close to falling off the cliff and into another depression. "In Fed We Trust" outlines the confusing and hectic days when the crisis was at its worst. Its a look back, behind the scenes at the Federal Reserve, at the internal disagreements, debates and 11th hour decisions to bail out some of the most troubled firms. In one of the many informal and light-hearted anecdotes, the Fed had made a deal with a local Subway to keep a fridge stocked with tur...more
Shortly after Ben Bernake stepped into the role of Fed Chairman, the Great Panic commenced. Bernake, a relative newcomer to Washington, spent the bulk of his career in academia dissecting the Great Depression and, according to David Wessel's account in his book IN FED WE TRUST, the one thing Bernake knew as a Depression scholar was that he would not allow history to repeat itself. Wessel writes a thorough retelling of the early days of the Great Panic as the Bernake triumvirate--Timonthy Geithne...more
This is a well-reported account of the most important week in the last 50 years of capitalism.
The author, David Wessel, is perhaps too kind to Ben Bernanke and Timothy Geithner, but he has Hank Paulson spot-on. Bernanke is the nimble, intellectually audacious former economics professor from Princeton, while Geithner is portrayed as the pragmatic chairman of the New York Federal Reserve - before his subsequent promotion. Paulson is another in a seemingly endless line of Goldman Sachs...more
The author, David Wessel, is perhaps too kind to Ben Bernanke and Timothy Geithner, but he has Hank Paulson spot-on. Bernanke is the nimble, intellectually audacious former economics professor from Princeton, while Geithner is portrayed as the pragmatic chairman of the New York Federal Reserve - before his subsequent promotion. Paulson is another in a seemingly endless line of Goldman Sachs...more
I read this last year. It was a solid effort. It did not overwhelm me with Fed interest rates talk. One of its merits is the approachable tone of Wesel's writing. He's knowledgeable about what made the Fed's response so haggard. But I think he had too much of a brief for Bernanke and let's his mistakes off too lightly. There was too much political decisionmaking by the Fed Open Markets Committee or Bernanke, Geithner, Warsh, and Kohn. Wessel seems to be defending this ---which is indefensible. ...more
The title says it all. Wessel absolutely adores Ben Bernanke, raving about his genius and character. Wessel is an idiot. He spends countless pages talking about how this boy from rural South Carolina is overwhelmingly brilliant. Neat? If you're looking for something other than a 300-page fanboy book about how fantastic bald, bearded Ben is, look elsewhere.
Those seeking understanding of WHY the Fed bailed out Goldman, Merrill, AIG, Fannie, Freddie, and others while letting Lehman, WaM...more
Those seeking understanding of WHY the Fed bailed out Goldman, Merrill, AIG, Fannie, Freddie, and others while letting Lehman, WaM...more
A behind-the-scenes look at the financial crisis of fall 2008 and how the Federal Reserve dealt with it. A fascinating behind-the-scenes story based on interviews with all the key participants. Covers from the beginnings of the recession in late 2007 through to summer 2009 under the Obama Administration.
I often wished that the book didn't rush quite so much through some events, but given the scope of what it covers, it would have been many hundreds of pages longer! It does an admirab...more
I often wished that the book didn't rush quite so much through some events, but given the scope of what it covers, it would have been many hundreds of pages longer! It does an admirab...more
Great background for taking current events with an educated grain of salt.
The build up to the near 2nd Depression written in a style like a Crichton
novel. Educates while providing a thrill and a bit of a scare.
One side of the story that helps the reader try to read between the lines, for example Bernanke's recent June 2010 statement 'Not anticipating a double dip...Europe will manage ... I don't understand the rise in gold'. One part keep the panic down, one part unders...more
The build up to the near 2nd Depression written in a style like a Crichton
novel. Educates while providing a thrill and a bit of a scare.
One side of the story that helps the reader try to read between the lines, for example Bernanke's recent June 2010 statement 'Not anticipating a double dip...Europe will manage ... I don't understand the rise in gold'. One part keep the panic down, one part unders...more
Nilesh
added it
More an account of what happened in the crazy period of Aug-07 to early 2009. Given that the book was written so soon after the events, there is little on the consequences of many actions. Reads more like description of events and how various players behaved rather than any account of what led to these events and what happened later. Good book for those who plan to research on the topic further or for those who were far away focussing on some other things during these events.
I read this for a class, but enjoyed it all the same. It's a good descriptive account of how Bernanke, Geithner, and Paulson handled the recent recession. It's a good inside look at how decisions are made and helps me appreciate the complexity of pouring money into failing financial institutions. I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone, though, who's not incredibly interested in the Federal Reserve.
Lots of books have been written about this topic, this one doesn't add a ton of new information or viewpoints from others I've read. I enjoyed it, because you don't always get the dialogue with these types of books, and with this you sort of get to know better who Bernanke and Paulson are and where they were coming from.
It was a quick read, but my favorite part was the last chapter summarizing his arguments from the whole book.
It was a quick read, but my favorite part was the last chapter summarizing his arguments from the whole book.
Read this for a b-school book club. Really liked it, but that doesn't mean I understood it all. Basically, part story and part technical analysis of the actions that Bernanke and the Fed, along with Hank Paulson at the Treasury, took to stave off a second "Great Depression" and how much of a radical departure their actions were relative to the Fed's usual MO.
By far the best book I've read this year. Easy to comprehend, and organized more or less chronologically (which I can't stress how appreciative I am for that). A detailed account of how close we came to The Great Depression 2.0
The rise and fall of Alan Greenspan's fame during the Bush 2 administration may just prove that the reverse is true for the duck-tape and superglue desperation of Ben Bernanke's Fed.
A classic example of learn from your mistakes (of 1929), but only time will ...more
The rise and fall of Alan Greenspan's fame during the Bush 2 administration may just prove that the reverse is true for the duck-tape and superglue desperation of Ben Bernanke's Fed.
A classic example of learn from your mistakes (of 1929), but only time will ...more
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This is a good book, full of behind the scenes info on the financial crisis. I've read a few of the books on this subject, as I became somewhat obsessed with the subject. This is one of the better ones, although not as comprehensive as All The Devils Are Here. But still, worth a read.
This is a good blow-by-blow of the last couple of years of the financial meltdown. Wessel does a nice job of providing context, but he alternates between being too simplistic in some places and unclear in other places (or maybe my education on economics and monetary policy is uneven). In some places, he misses out on opportunities to pull things together, but his central thesis, that Bernanke is willing to do whatever it takes to avoid another depression, is hard to miss.
Great look at the financial crisis thru the view of the Federal Reserve and more specifically Ben Bernacke. Regardless of what you might think of what the we all missed in this crisis; makes you realize that we had the right guy fixing this mess once it happened.
A Wall Street Journal reporter’s close and balanced look at how the Federal Reserve responded to the financial meltdown last year. Short and easy to read, about 75% is familiar to those who followed the crisis somewhat closely, but about 25% is new. - Douglas Baird
Kimberly
is currently reading it
Recommends it for:
those who are civic minded
Recommended to Kimberly by:
Kansas City Public Library
I was interested in the book because of the title and I wanted more information regarding the events and the involvment of the key players during this historic episode our nation and the global economy. So Far I have not been bored.Kmr
way too journalistic, too glib, too factoid....but what we just went thru is amazing....do not believe in free markets, in efficient market pricing all that stuff is garbage but you can't expect a wsj reporter to say that
This was a great book about the Federal Reserve Bank's role in all the 'bailouts' that happened over the last few years. It explained economics in a non-boring way, and helped me understand a lot about my workplace!
Boring. So the guy wrote the book and got it published in 2009. The Great Panic was just barely over by then and in some cases still going. He mostly just covers who goes down and how over the two year period starting in 2007. He obviously doesn't like Allen Greenspan which kind of threw me off because I had just finished reading his 500 page book and I like the guy. I got through about 150 pages and was complaining to my wife a bit when she suggested I skim the rest of the book. I did and...more
This is a very readable book discussing the battle by the FED, and Bernake, to prevent the U.S. economy from collapsing into a full depression at the end of 2008. Many insights into the behind-the-scenes decisions being made, the extradordinary steps made to prop up the economy, and the complexity of it all.
A solid account of the financial crisis, but if you have been following the news closely there won't be much new here. Oddly, devotes barely any attention to the collapse of Lehman Brothers--I would guess that the author failed to get sources to talk with him about it.
From reading this book you get the idea that Fed chairman Ben Bernake pretty much saved us from another Great Depression (so far). Wessel is a Wall Street Journal reporter and seems thoroughly knowledgable.
Review of Ben Bernanke's interesting 2 yrs. Still amazes me how these otherwise smart guys are not so smart. (Except that the CEOs were smart enough to make gobs of money irresponsibly)
This is a really interesting book. I was afraid that this book would be really boring. Instead the author managed to make the topic interesting. Everyone should read this book.
An exciting account of the actions of Bernanke, Paulson, Geithner and a Fed governor unknown to me, Warsh, in the panic of summer & fall 2008
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