3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Readable Enough But Dry And Already Dated, November 21, 2009
This review is from: Ben Bernanke's Fed: The Federal Reserve After Greenspan (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Though just published in May of 2008 this book about the Federal Reserve and its current head, Ben Bernanke, is already dated. Since this book's publication Lehman Brothers has collapsed (ironically the book's author Ethan S. Harris was their leading economist), Barack Obama has been elected in last year's Democratic election sweep and the national unemployment rate has soared to over 10%. These happenings have to have affected Bernanke's leadership of the Federal Reserve. However despite its problem with timeliness, the book still provides some useful information and insight in to the way the Federal Reserve operates, the financial "rock star" Greenspan's legacy and how Bernanke is likely to guide the Federal Reserve through the remainder of his term (or perhaps terms?). Not exactly a fun read but accessible and informative to those with a basic understanding of the U.S. economy.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Better informed on the Federal Reserve, September 25, 2009
This review is from: Ben Bernanke's Fed: The Federal Reserve After Greenspan (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I was hoping that in reading this book I could become better informed on either Ben Bernanke or the Federal Reserve. I was really looking for something that identified the structure, how decisions were arrived at, how much we really don't know about the reserve...etcetera. In fairly simple terms the structure of the Federal Reserve and how it works was laid out. I honestly think that there is simply too much information to pack it all in to one book and so I felt like I was on a bit of a speed course in some areas.
I would like to know a bit more about Ben Bernanke himself, the sections on why he's the right man for the job felt a little propaganda-ish, repetitive without substance.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Absence of insights and how we got into this mess, December 30, 2008
This review is from: Ben Bernanke's Fed: The Federal Reserve After Greenspan (Hardcover)
This book is still worth a quick read for reference even if much of what is there is out of date (final edit May 2008). And for beginners in finance there are some useful sections. I particularly liked p. 124, which tells us what Bernanke will do. It is about the only forward looking comment in the book, along with the not very adventurous ("going out on a limb") recommendation that the Fed should be forward acting in heading off bubbles by at least leaning against them.
Adjusting for limitations on perspective and additional market blow ups that followed final edits on the book, this is still an establishment book. The work itself is relatively shallow, and repetitive, given some collage work from the author's day job as a brokerage economist. Harris does tell us some of the writing comes from his brokerage notes. But he, or the editors, should have tried to cut out sections that went over the same material again. Instead of going deeper in a later chapter, we merely go around the same topic again. How many times do we hear that "Bernanke was one of the leading students of the depression?"
The biggest problem is the misleading nature of the title. We are told this is going to be a book about Bernanke. Yet, physically, the entire first part of the book is about Greenspan. When we get out of the Greenspan sections, we nonetheless get taken back to Greenspan countless times.
Conclusion: This is an establishment book. At the margin it is useful for quick reference. But let's recall how we got into this financial mess. We had passive analysts recycling consensus thinking to passive managements, bankers, regulators, investors, etc.
I recommend readers check out the analysis in the New Monetarism. And let's hope more thinkers come along to write in-depth, updated analysis of the Fed and its control/guidance over the flow of money in the largest economy in the world. Until then, keep reading raw news items, and blogs, and seek to draw your own conclusions.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
