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.

Who would've thought...

Who would have thought I'd find economics so fascinating? This book can get a little dense in spots for those of us who aren't economics experts, so I may have to give it a second listen. However, it was a fascinating slant on history, from the point of view of an expert who has lived through so many of the big economic events of the past century. Definitely worth the effort required to grasp the complicated issues. Highly recommended.

Interesting Book

I would give this 4.5 stars if it were an option. It would be hard to read without some understanding of economics, but he explains much of the complex data really well. He comes off as a much more interesting and well rounded person than the super geek I expected. I was very interested in the behind the scenes action involved in keeping the economy rolling.

Interesting and Boring

all at once. The general context was very interesting. However, there were parts which went on too long. Overall a good book though.

Is Capitalism really working?

Is Capitalism really working? Creative destruction?
The whole attractiveness of US society is at it's economic opportunities. That's what draws millions of immigrants each year. The opportunity to make money compare to their native countries, to create wealth for themselves and their families.
What some of them realize when it is too late, it is only the appearance of wealth for those who make into the middle and lower class of American society.
If you buy a house in the US, it doesn't belong to you, you have to pay 1 to 1.5% of its value to the government. If you get sick you have to sell it to pay your bills. If you loose your job and can't make payments on time, you will loose it.
It appears that you make money, but bills are overwhelming. If you raise your kids, their education will be substandard, they will be brainwashed to American ideology, and have trouble finding good job.

The ledgen

The book is good. I enjoyed it. I think it could have been a couple of books rather then a single book. I will reread it (listen) again in a couple of months. I think there is a lot to be learned by listenly closely.

Basics for wide audience

If you are not very familiar with macroeconomics and would like to know Alan Greenspan's take on economic forces, principals and issues of modern times, this is a great book. You will find plenty of historical examples, future projections as well as eloquently explained economic and political relationships and trends that shape our world as we know today. Just as interesting is the authors' opinion of many prominent public figures he met during his career.
The book is intended to be an "easy read" for an average reader, so do not expect it to be of much academic value or any in-depth research/analysis that can be used for, say, investment purposes.
The narration is excellent, arguments are persuasive and easy to follow, the amount of material covered is also quite substantial.
Ideally, I would suggest this book to an average voter who wants to understand the economic impact of various public policies. Policies like "more taxes for the rich", "more power to the unions", "deport immigrants", "erect a trade barrier with China", "freeze gasoline prices" not only have a profound economic impact (mostly negative) on everybody, but also have a long history of prior attempts that we can learn a lot from.
Lastly, as much as Greenspan tried not to come across this way, but he surely seems to be riding a rather high horse. His opinion of self-importance and self-righteousness could use a trim..

An inspiring and eye opening experience

I can't say enough positive things about this book. In the beginning I was immediately drawn in by the description of the 9-11 crisis from an global and domestic economic standpoint.

I was inspired by the life, and humility of Greenspan. It was a true pleasure to learn more about him, where he came from, and how he lived such an incredible life.

I was truly educated on the macro economics of the world (I don't have an economics background). He presented history, present, and future predictions with a tremendous amount of background detail and supporting evidence.

Coming away from reading this book I feel inspired by the work Greenspan has accomplished; I have a better understanding of the workings of our government on economic matters; and I have a tremendously better understanding of globalization, free markets, and the future of the global marketplaces in our society.

I found it a pleasure to listen the the book from end to end and strongly recommend the unabridged version of this book, I can't imagine leaving out a single word.

If you pass on this book you will be missing out on one of the most insightful and educational works available today.

Bigger Picture

A good insight into the sum of the parts behind the largest economy. I admit I trudged through this book, it was difficult due only to my poor understanding of economics. There were some entertaining parts and yes I learnt quiet a lot and that was the aim. thank-you

Great!

I really liked this book. I am only 24 and I even with 16 years of schooling I know very little of the last 50 years, especially when it comes to the economy. I thought this book was very insightful and though it was a very long book, I was not bored! The first half of the book was about Greenspan's life and all the turmoil and success of the past 80 years. The second half dealt with the global situation currently and deals specifically with the developing nations.

I think anyone that would like to understand how the world's economies have developed over the last 50 years, this is the perfect book to read. I really enjoyed it and would definetly recommend it.

enlightening book

What a great book that gives a different view on the world than you would normally see it as a "regular" person.