A review by katemilty
The Alchemists: Three Central Bankers and a World on Fire by Neil Irwin
3.0
When I started reading this book, I knew nothing real about the Fed other than it had "bailed out Wall Street". Why did it do that? Did it really hurt the American people with it's interventions in 2008 and beyond? Why did the US crisis affect Europe? Why was everyone talking about a crisis in the Eurozone?
I can't say at the completion of listening to this audiobook that I can reasonably explain a coherent multi-sentence answer to any of the above questions. Maybe if I'd listened more closely, taken more notes.. That's not to say this book was overly academic or inaccessible. On the contrary, Irwin's writing often translated impossible central bank-speak into something comprehensible.
Whether or not it was a balanced account, I can't say. But it definitely felt like a thorough one. Would recommend for anyone trying to better understand "WTF happened in the financial crisis?"
On whether or not it is a balanced account, the NY Times suggests it is: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/business/alchemists-looks-at-central-bankers-handling-of-crisis.html
I can't say at the completion of listening to this audiobook that I can reasonably explain a coherent multi-sentence answer to any of the above questions. Maybe if I'd listened more closely, taken more notes.. That's not to say this book was overly academic or inaccessible. On the contrary, Irwin's writing often translated impossible central bank-speak into something comprehensible.
Whether or not it was a balanced account, I can't say. But it definitely felt like a thorough one. Would recommend for anyone trying to better understand "WTF happened in the financial crisis?"
On whether or not it is a balanced account, the NY Times suggests it is: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/business/alchemists-looks-at-central-bankers-handling-of-crisis.html