21st Century Monetary Policy

The Federal Reserve from the Great Inflation to COVID-19

By: Ben S. Bernanke

Narrated by: George Guidall

21st Century Monetary Policy takes listeners inside the Federal Reserve, explaining what it does and why.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve deployed an extraordinary range of policy tools that helped prevent the collapse of the financial system and the U.S. economy. Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues lent directly to U.S. businesses, purchased trillions of dollars of government securities, pumped dollars into the international financial system, and crafted a new framework for monetary policy that emphasized job creation.

These strategies would have astonished Powell’s late-20th-century predecessors, from William McChesney Martin to Alan Greenspan, and the advent of these tools raises new questions about the future landscape of economic policy.

In 21st Century Monetary Policy, Ben S. Bernanke—former chair of the Federal Reserve and one of the world’s leading economists—explains the Fed’s evolution and speculates about its future. Taking a fresh look at the bank’s policymaking over the past seventy years, including his own time as chair, Bernanke shows how changes in the economy have driven the Fed’s innovations. He also lays out new challenges confronting the Fed, including the return of inflation, cryptocurrencies, increased risks of financial instability, and threats to its independence.

Beyond explaining the central bank’s new policymaking tools, Bernanke also captures the drama of moments when so much hung on the Fed’s decisions, as well as the personalities and philosophies of those who have led the institution.

©2022 Ben Bernanke (P)2022 Recorded Books

Good content

The content itself is great. When Bernanke speaks, we ought to listen. The performance was distracting admittedly. But generally satisfied with the purchase.

Outstanding analysis of 75 years of Fed policy

A readable, yet scholarly and essential recounting of the major and minor contributions the Fed has made to US financial stability since the Eisenhower years. Bernanke is both magisterial and approachable.

Terrible narrator

The narrative absolutely ruined this book. I found myself drifting off and not focusing on the book subject matter. Lots of good stuff here but too much time spent on details and not enough on context. Combine that with the poor performance and it took me forever to get through this book.

Academic and Dry

A thoughtful and comprehensive presentation of the history of the fed and monetary policy. Detailed descriptions of the actions and tools deployed during a variety of crisis from the 1970s to 2020. Understandable and detailed it is a great read for someone doing research on the Fed. Very academic. The reader was bone dry in his narration. Too detailed for someone looking for an overview on the Fed's role in our society over the past 50 years.

He got the Nobel prize a month after I bought book

He got the Nobel prize a month after I bought book. It was a great complement to all the negative Nancies that always wanna complain about the fed.