Back from the Brink

by Steven K. Beckner

Written by Steven Beckner, a respected financial journalist who has covered the Fed for more than twenty years, Back From the Brink is a compelling and intricate portrait of the enigmatic Greenspan and the powerful institution he heads. In a gripping, blow-by-blow account of the Fed's role during the Greenspan years - perhaps "the most difficult time to make monetary policy in the Fed's 83-year history" - Beckner skillfully weaves the subtleties of the Fed's complex inner workings with details of the Chairman's rise to - and phenomenal stay at - the top. Since taking office, Greenspan has been bombarded with potentially disastrous economic time bombs: from the ferocious crash of '87 and the recession of '90 to ongoing trade deficits, debt burdens, banking problems, swinging exchange rates, and severe credit crunches. Constantly battling inflation, he has also had to contend with enormous pressures from three different administrations to hold interest rates as low as possible. With exac