Book reviews
Book notes: The economic government of the world 1933–2023, by Martin Daunton
A deep dive into the politics, personalities, trade theory and trade practice of the era, but missing a crucial element: the collapse in the US stock of money
Book notes: Economists in the cold war, by Alan Bollard
A geographically balanced review of key economists that shaped the world economy
Book notes: The Continental dollar, by Farley Grubb
Grubb’s book brings an important new interpretation to this founding moment in US financial history
Book notes: Bold vision, by Freddy Orchard
Largely uncritical insights about the formation of the GIC and Singapore’s currency regime
Book notes: My journeys in economic theory, by Edmund Phelps
Six decades of the Nobel Prize-winner’s thoughts – from micro-foundations of macro theory to the possibilities beyond working, saving and investing
Book notes: The crisis of democratic capitalism, by Martin Wolf
A sincere attempt to explain and fix the failing of capitalism in liberal democracies
Book notes: Inflation targeting and central banks, by Joanna Niedźwiedzińska
A useful and rich reference source, especially for central banks moving to adopt inflation targeting
Book notes: Forks in the road, by C Rangarajan
A memoir by one of India’s most distinguished governors, who presided over the balance-of-payments crisis
Book notes: O Governador, by Luis Rosa
Documents Carlos Costa’s clashes with Portugal’s elite during the eurozone sovereign debt crisis
Book notes: Labor in the age of finance, by Sanford M Jacoby
A fascinating book about the US labour movement’s efforts to use pension fund money to bolster its voice
Book notes: The Federal Reserve: a new history, by Robert L Hetzel
This book should become the standard reference for scholars
Book notes: States and the masters of capital, by Quentin Bruneau
Chronicling the practices and players involved in privately financed sovereign debt
Book notes: The rise of central banks, by Leon Wansleben
The books is at its best when the author focusses on sociological angles related to central bank economics
Book notes: The big con, by Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington
The authors highlight that the excessive pursuit of efficiency results in ineffective government agencies
Book notes: Money and the rule of law, by Peter Boettke, Alexander Salter and Daniel Smith
A largely US-focused book, which hankers for more robust rules for central banks but isn’t explicit as to what kind
Book notes: The next age of uncertainty, by Stephen Poloz
This book provides a well-informed and well-argued view about our economic future
Book notes: A guide to good money, by Brendan Brown and Robert Pringle
The authors make some good points even if one does not agree with this full-bodied attack on Keynesian economics and inflation targeting
Book notes: The illusion of control, by Jon Danielsson
Jon Danielsson’s book makes a compelling case for a serious rethink on financial crises and risk management
Book notes: Global discord, by Paul Tucker
A curious mix of a book, which attempts to think through how democracies should deal with the rise of Communist China
Book notes: A monetary and fiscal history of the United States, 1961–2021, by Alan Blinder
An infusion of the history of fiscal policy into a theoretical framework traditionally focused on monetary instruments
Book notes: Zero interest rate policy and the new abnormal, by Michael Beenstock
Thesis that QE caused low r* is entertaining and infuriating in equal measure
Book notes: Yellen, by Jon Hilsenrath
Offers new insights into the tough decisions Yellen has made as a pre-eminent economic policy-maker
Book notes: 21st century monetary policy, by Ben S Bernanke
Bernanke’s great book offers important insights for today’s policy-makers, writes Stephen Poloz
Book notes: The money minders, by Jagjit S Chadha
This book acts as an invaluable primer on money-credit-fiscal theory and practice