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. ( )

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. ( )

I resisted reading this for a while because I had heard that it was essentially an exculpation and rationalization of his tenure. Once I got into it, however, I found it quite gripping.

The first half, the traditional biography is fairly interesting. I particularly enjoyed reading the influence of Ayn Rand and his meetings with Reagan.

The value of the book lies in the second half, however. Here, Greenspan goes over areas of the economy by topic bringing in an broad perspective explained clearly.

Anyone interested in the economy and why things are the way they are would enjoy the book. ( )

Initially I thought this would be rather dry but it was very interesting to get some of the details behind the decisions of The Fed for so many years. It was particularly valuable to learn of Mr. Greenspan's impressions of many modern Presidents. This guy Greenspan was around for a long time. ( )

The book is interesting, but tepid. Economics is actually gripping stuff -- people lose their homes in foreclosure; ordinary people in India find that they can afford two meals per day instead of one; white-collar criminals find themselves in prison. We are living in a turbulent age and Greenspan's overarching view does nothing to convey this. He left to Fed to join a firm that made its fortune betting the real estate market would collapse. The real estate bubble is barely suggested in the book. This is a book you want to argue with! ( )