In an Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington

Book Review

Title: In An Uncertain World

Author: Robert Rubin and Jacob Weisberg

“In An Uncertain World” is certainly a timely book. Robert Rubin, most well-known as Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton administration, has collaborated with Jacob Weisberg to write an account of his life as a background to his illustrious career in both finance and government and back to finance again.

Coming from a privileged background, his father is an attorney, he progressed through the public school system., not with any great distinction. Applying to Princeton University he was turned down. With the help of some good connections he was admitted to Harvard. There his academic skills improved and he achieved Phi Beta Kappa and graduated show more Summa Cum Laude

He wrote the dean of Princeton to tell him that in spite of his opinion he had proved his ability. The dean replied that it was his custom to reject a certain number of qualified students so that Harvard might have a few.

The prime note in Rubin’s philosophy is akin to the famous Heisenberg Principle of Uncertainty. Heisenberg, a noted physicist, claimed that nothing could be known in absolute terms, only as a matter of probability. Rubin sees things in terms of probability also.

His apprenticeship at Goldman Sachs, a large financial institution in New York City, was in the arbitrage department. This esoteric area of high finance is spelled out in some detail in order to illustrate Rubin’s use of analytical decision-making. By attempting to quantify the several considerations necessary in making buy-sell choices involving huge amounts of money, he weighs the probabilities of risk vs. reward.

It was interesting to me to read of his development within the financial world as he learned from the “old hands” and progressed up the ladder of success. Broadening his horizons, his wife Judy was in the theatrical world, he became involved in community activities and this eventually led him Into political activity.

The book’s first chapter tells, in detail, how he and his assistant Larry Summers, together with Alan Greenspan, handled In the Mexican monetary crisis. Their critical evaluation of the consequences of allowing Mexico to default led to the action, on the part of the Clinton administration, to support Mexico to the tune of $25 billion.

Rubin is didactic, sometimes to a monotonous degree, in describing his financial dealings and some of the quandaries that troubled the markets at times. From the blurb inside the book- “ with a compelling and candid voice and a sharp eye for detail, Rubin portrays the daily life of the White House, confronting matters, both mighty and mundane, as astutely as he examines the challenges that lie ahead for the nation. Part political memoir in part prescriptive economic analysis, and part personal look at business problems, “In An Uncertain World” is a deep examination of Washington and Wall Street by a figure who for three decades has been the center of both worlds.’

A very thoughtful and incisive look into some of the complexities most of us are blissfully ignorant of. show less

Pros: straight-forward writing; informative accounts of history at places
Cons: pretentious; diplomatic writing; ass-kissing; self-congratulatory; basically an official talking points dressed up as a personal candid account

rubin takes a rationally fatalistic view on life

As the national debt takes on more and more emphasis, especially in July and August 2011 an understanding of the Rubin days on the Cabinet become increasingly important

Weisberg, Jacob (Contributor)