Book reviews
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 critical policy issues such as the 1990s’ 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 and banking crisis
Book notes: Labor in the age of finance, by Sanford M Jacoby
A fascinating attempt to document 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
The book’s breakthrough is its infusion of the history of fiscal policy into a theoretical framework traditionally focused on monetary instruments. It is a splendid and thrilling read
Book notes: Zero interest rate policy and the new abnormal, by Michael Beenstock
Author's contention that asset purchases caused the low neutral rate of interest is entertaining and infuriating in equal measure
Book notes: Yellen, by Jon Hilsenrath
This book offers new insights into the tough decisions and tremendous efforts 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
Book notes: Can’t we just print more money?, by Rupal Patel and Jack Meaning
A genuinely readable but non-neutral introduction to economics
Book notes: The Fed unbound, by Lev Menand
Instead of the Fed expanding its tasks to meet shadow banking needs, this book calls for charter-like oversight of NBFIs