The Age of Turbulence

Adventures in a New World

By: Alan Greenspan

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 20 hrs

Publisher's summary

"This book is in part a detective story. After 9/11 I knew, if I needed further reinforcement, that we are living in a new world - the world of a global capitalist economy that is vastly more flexible, resilient, open, self-correcting, and fast-changing than it was even a quarter century earlier. It's a world that presents us with enormous new possibilities but also enormous new challenges. The Age of Turbulence is my attempt to understand the nature of this new world: how we got here, what we're living through, and what lies over the horizon, for good and for ill. Where possible, I convey my understanding in the context of my own experiences. I do this out of a sense of responsibility to the historical record, and so that listeners will know where I'm coming from.

"The book is therefore divided in halves: the first half is my effort to retrace the arc of my learning curve, and the second half is a more objective effort to use this as the foundation on which to erect a conceptual framework for understanding the new global economy. Along the way I explore critical elements of this emerging global environment: the principles governing it; the vast energy infrastructure that powers it; the global financial imbalances and dramatic shifts in world demographics that threaten it; and, despite its unquestioned success, the chronic concern over the justice of the distribution of its rewards. Finally, I bring together what we can reasonably conjecture about the makeup of the world economy in 2030.

"I don't pretend to know all the answers. But from my vantage point at the Federal Reserve, I had privileged access to the best that had been thought and said on a wide range of subjects. I have not been inhibited in reaching for some fairly sweeping hypotheses."
-Alan Greenspan

©2007 Alan Greenspan (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc.

Fascinating

Who knew that Alan Greenspan was such a fascinating person and had led such a varied life. I was enlightened and intrigued, I learned a lot and some of it even stuck with me.

Superb

Great book to listen to, not quite enthralling but very very interesting.

You Want Opinions from the Grandmaster

You would not travel to the ends of the earth to consult a great oracle and then ask for just the facts so you can draw your own conclusions. When consulting a grandmaster in any field the most useful thing to seek are the opinions that represent a synergy or summary of the 200K hours of work that went into becoming grandmaster (grandmasters don’t work 40 hour weeks).

Greenspan obliges. The book is nothing but onions from the first page to the last. But they are the opinions that are in his opinion the most important, which in the end may be the most important opinion to solicit from a grandmaster.

The result, however, is a very pleasant survey of economics. The kind of thing every citizen should know. His bias is decidedly modern and he’s slightly conservative. He seems to think of himself as an economic rebel, and I’m sure that was true when he started his career (before most readers were born), but today his views are the new mainstream.

This is really a book written for the average person, not the serious scholar. It succeeds at its goal, very well.

Surprisingly Engaging

This is one of my favorite audiobooks this year. It was interesting, well read and kept moving. For a book about global economics, I was impressed at how much I wanted to continue listening when I had to stop (to go to work, etc.).

Ultra-Hyped, But Good

Despite the hype, this book is a very good read. Provides an insight into economics, politics, business, and the workings of the Fed all in one package.

Insightful

A bit too long...but full of exceptional insights... I would need to listen to this book at least a couple more times to begin to grasp it all... One last thought... you could start with part 2 of the download and miss almost nothing... I really didn't expect to hear about his early years in the glee club... But... it is still a great book!

My .02

I recommend it. AG comes across as unbiased... an interesting listen for anyone interested in politics, social sciences, & the economy

What a lot of insight

Truly amazing look back at history over most of my lifetime from the standpoint of someone that was watching it closely and in some instances guiding it in the direction it ultimately took.

Great book.

Outstanding

OK, I do not have an economics background, so the level of this discussion was perfect for me. I thought this was one of the most interesting and gripping books I have listened to. The narrator has a great voice which actually sounds a little like Greenspan.

but on to the content. Having been a casual, but not formal, student of economics since the Reagan years, it was great to relook at the last 25 years through the eyes of someone who played a key role in decisions made through the years. Furthermore, the economic insights were the insightful, considered, logical, and unemotional thoughts you might expect from Greenspan. As a non-economist but who has a great interest in human psychology and sociology, the level this book was written at was perfect. The interplay between psychology, economics, social structures, and politics is great great reading. i do not think this was targetted at people who are economics professors, and the book should not be criticized for this: it's targetted at the general readership.

sometimes you listen to books and you find that your mind has wandered for a few minutes and you have lost the train of thought. That never happened to me during this read. I found it rivetting.

Wish He Was Still Fed Chair

This book gives great background on a man whose interests and talents are much more diverse that I'd ever realized. Contemporary issues and the evolution of our current financial markets are lucidly explained. To have the inside story from such an important character in our modern world is fascinating. Folks who don't follow the markets or the fed may find that this book gives them more information than they want and prefer the written version. I found the reader's voice a perfect match for the author and the material.