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Loading... The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New Worldby Alan GreenspanLibraryThing recommendationsMember recommendationsLoading...
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Extremely enlightening! It's like a taking a course in economics (  ) nEtVolution | Jan 15, 2010 |  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 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!! (  ) sundaraz | Jan 9, 2010 | Well written by a scholar of the markets. (  ) DaveGreek | Dec 14, 2009 | a very educational book about the inside workings of the US Treasury and banking. In hindsight, I wonder if he would have written any of the last chapters nearly the same. The man had way too much trust in the average person and not enough insight in the financial history he supposedly knew so well. ( ) bluesviola | Jun 20, 2009 | I prefer non-fiction, and, as a banker, I find this book really interesting. The flew through the first half - his life, his passion for all things business, his acquaintances. But the second half reads more like an economic textbook. I understand how integral his economic theory is to who he is as a person, but I think it would have been more reader-friendly if it integrated those theories in the context of his life. (  )1  jvega210 | Jun 4, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
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After 9/11 Alan Greenspan knew, if he needed any further reinforcement, that we're living in a new world - the world of a global capitalist economy that is vastly more flexible, resilient, open, self-directing, and fast-changing than it was even 20 years ago. It's a world that presents us with enormous new possibilities but also enormous new challenges. The Age of Turbulence is Alan Greenspan's incomparable reckoning with the nature of this new world - how we got here, what we're living through, and what lies over the horizon, for good and for ill-channeled through his own experiences working in the command room of the global economy for longer and with greater effect than any other single living figure. He begins his account on that September 11th morning, but then leaps back to his childhood, and follows the arc of his remarkable life's journey through to his more than 18-year tenure as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, from 1987 to 2006, during a time of transforming change.
Alan Greenspan shares the story of his life first simply with an eye toward doing justice to the extraordinary amount of history he has experienced and shaped. But his other goal is to draw readers along the same learning curve he followed, so they accrue a grasp of his own understanding of the underlying dynamics that drive world events. In the second half of the book, having brought us to the present and armed us with the conceptual tools to follow him forward, Dr. Greenspan embarks on a magnificent tour de horizon of the global economy. He reveals the universals of economic growth, delves into the specific facts on the ground in each of the major countries and regions of the world, and explains what the trend-lines of globalization are from here. The distillation of a life's worth of wisdom and insight into an elegant expression of a coherent worldview, The Age of Turbulence will stand as Alan Greenspan's personal and intellectual legacy.
A Timeline of a Remarkable Career Mar. 6, 1926 Born in New York City 1936 At 10 sees Roosevelt campaigning; becomes expert on the 1936 Yankees 1938 Takes up clarinet at 12 1943-44 Studies clarinet at Julliard Mid 1944 Joins Henry Jerome Band 1948 Graduates (summa cum laude) from New York University. (He later earns a master's in 1950 and a Ph.D. in 1977, also from NYU.) Hired as economic analyst at the Conference Board. 1954-74 Co-founds Townsend-Greenspan & Co. Inc., an economic consulting firm in New York City. (He returns in 1977.) 1974 Nominated by President Ford as chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisors. 1983 Chair of bipartisan National Commission on Social Security Reform. June 1, 1987 Nominated by President Reagan for Fed Chair. Confirmed by Senate August 3. Oct. 19, 1987 Only 69 days into Greenspan's term, the Dow drops 508 points and 22%. July 10, 1991 Nominated by President George H.W. Bush to a second term as Fed Chairman. Later nominated to a third (February 22, 1996) and fourth term (January 4, 2000) by President Clinton. Apr. 6, 1997 Marries Andrea Mitchell May 18, 2004 Nominated by President George W. Bush for a fifth term as Fed chairman Jan. 31, 2006 Completes 18 ½ years at the Fed Feb. 1, 2006 Forms Greenspan Associates LLC, an economic consulting firm Alan Greenspan's Top 10 Classical and Jazz Favorites
Before Alan Greenspan embarked on his legendary financial career, he studied the clarinet at Julliard and played as a professional jazz musician (while doing tax returns for his bandmates). He chose 10 favorites for us from a lifetime of listening, including:
Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 23
Vivaldi, Complete Cello Concertos
Coleman Hawkins, "Body and Soul"
(retrieved from Amazon Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:04:01 -0500)
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