Book Revew - The Age of Turbulance by Alan Greenspan

The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World written by Alan Greenspan is the frank and entertaining memoirs of this notable figure in American economic history. It would be an ever better read if Greenspan's were more able to be as forthright and penetrating about himself as he is about others.Alan Greenspan was born in 1926 and he was raised in Washington Heights, NY. In 1944 a draft board in central New York rejected Greenspan, then a recent high school graduate, because he had a spot on his lung that looked like it might be tuberculosis. When the war ended Greenspan attended Columbia University where he studied Economics. Greenspan had a very detail oriented view of life and economics during his educational years. He never seemed happier than when pouring over economic indicators that allow him to predict everything from the 1958 steel recession to the 1990s boom. "My early training was to immerse myself in extensive detail in the workings of some small part of the world and to infer from that detail the way that segment of the world behaves. That is the process I have applied throughout my career," he writes.Like his father Mr. Greenspan made his way to Wall Street, where he ran a consulting business that forecast the economy. He was doing quite nicely there when Martin Anderson asked if Greenspan wanted to join Richard Nixon's 1968 presidential campaign. Except for Jimmy Carter, Greenspan has worked with every president since 1969, and in the book he offers a fairly blunt critique of each.Gerald Ford was by far Greenspan's favorite President. "He always understood what he knew and what he didn't know," Greenspan writes. Despite their ideological differences, Bill Clinton ranked second, thanks to his "consistent, disciplined focus on long-term economic growth." Nixon, Reagan and George H. W. Bush each receive a mixture of praise and criticism. Only the current President George W. Bush goes without receiving credit for a single significant accomplishment."The Age of Turbulence" is actually two books in one.The first 250 or so pages are a standard autobiography that tells us who Greenspan is. This is the part of the bookthat will appeal to thebulk of readers who are not economists themselves. There are numerous wonderful stories in this section of the book. Greenspan reminisces about his early days as a professional-caliber jazz clarinetist in New York in the 1950s, playing his sets and then reading his economics books during the breaks while fellow musicians go backstage to party and get high. Of himself as a 26-year-old "math junkie" who got knocked back on his heels by his philosophical guru, Ayn Rand. Of himself as an economic advisor trying to educate, serve and guide Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton and Bush II. (Nixon wasn't just anti-Semitic, Greenspan tells us, but anti-everyone: "I don't know anybody he was pro."). Or, the story about inviting NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell (now Mrs. Greenspan) to his apartment to read his essay on monopolies.The second book is Greenspan's account of public policy. Greenspan's oft-quoted criticism -- that current Republican office holders "deserve to lose" elections because they sold their principles for power and "ended up with neither" -- should come as no surprise. Yet recent stories have relentlessly reported selected phrases from the new book as "unusually harsh criticism [of] President Bush and the Republican Party" for abandoning "the central conservative principle of fiscal restraint."I recommend this book to those people who want a better insight into the mind of the most famous economic planner of our time or those who want to better understanding Greenspan's unique and often critical political views. seuss book collection sets cat hat