Do They Walk on Water: Federal Reserve Chairmen and the Fed

(Hardback)

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A crowd gathers. People crane their necks. Cameras flash. The limo door opens. Who is itMick Jagger Oprah Tiger Woods No. It's Alan Greenspanand the crowd still goes wild. Many felt Greenspan walked on water during his lengthy term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve System. But was he a genius or, as Tolstoy might portray him, simply someone who could manifest confidence while attempting to captain an uncontrollable ship In this book, economist Leonard Santow casts a steely eye on the Fed and its five most recent chairmenArthur Burns, G. William Miller, Paul Volcker, Alan Greenspan, and Ben Bernanke. Along the way, readers learn what function the Fed performs and why, how monetary policy differs from fiscal policy, which levers the Fed uses to change the money supply and control inflation, and more. This is one of the few books to explain the inner workings of the Fed and its Open Market Operations in layman's terms, while evaluating its most recent chiefs in their efforts to keep inflation at bay and the economy humming. Written in an easy and accessible style, the book also contains insights on the subprime mess and the securities that helped bring down the real estate house of cards, and it offers prescriptions for smoothing the choppy economic seas going forward.

Reviews

Do They Walk On Water can be wholeheartedly recommended for both students of economics as well as the non-specialist general reader with an interest in how the Fed has and can continue to affect our national economic recovery. * Midwest Book Review *
The author explains how and why in a crisp narrative, supported by data sets consisting of 18 judiciously chosen economic indicators. The book's second appendix, 'A Flavor of the Times: Selected Media Headlines (1970-2008),' is an effective summary of the periods considered and a nice supplement. There is a lot to like in this timely book, not least of which is the author's perspective from 50-plus years of assessing and analyzing Fed policy and financial markets. Santow provides a cogent analysis of the roots of the current economic crisis and concludes the main part of the book with an expert's list of recommendations for Fed policy makers. Summing Up: Highly recommended. * Choice *
Do They Walk on Water . . . explains the inner workings of the Fed and its operations, evaluating its leaders over the decades and offering college-level libraries strong in economics and national monetary policy a solid analysis of how the Fed operates. * The Midwest Book Review - California Bookwatch *

Author Bio

Leonard J. Santow is managing director of Griggs & Santow Inc., an economic and financial consulting firm in New York City. His clients include government agencies, central banks, investment and commercial banks, corporations, pension funds, insurance companies, government securities dealers, and money managers. He is the author of The Budget Deficit: The Causes, the Costs, and the Outlook, Helping the Fed Work Smarter, and coauthor of Social Security and the Middle-Class Squeeze (Praeger, 2005). Santow holds a PhD in economics from the University of Illinois.