Title: In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke’s War on the Great Panic
Title: In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke’s War on the Great Panic
Author: David Wessel
Rating: (5)
ISBN: 9780307459688
David Wessel is economics editor for The Wall Street Journal and this book looks at the current financial meltdown from the perspective of the Federal Reserve. He uses the term “Great Panic” for this period, apparently relating it to the Great Depression and the Panic of 1907. Wessel covers the familiar territory mainly from the bankruptcy of two Bear Stearns hedge funds to mid-2009. In addition there is a bit of history of the Fed, Ben Bernanke’s background as an academic with expertise about the Great Depression, and events leading up to the panic—all in less than 300 pages. As a WSJ journalist he has great access and uses it to interview leading characters in the story, including Bernanke plus other fed officials as well as several business and government leaders. This enriches the story and provides some interesting insight into why specific decisions were made—the $700 billion TARP fund, for example.
This is a well-written book on this important topic with unusually good insight and background material to make the analysis more understandable. The only downside is it stops in mid-2009 (note: it’s really current), but the story is on-going. The Great Panic may be over, but the financial outcomes are far from certain.
Technical analysis is kept brief with relatively good explanations, so it is accessible to those without a master’s degree in economics. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in this important episode.
