Fed Up

Publisher's Summary

An insider's unflinching exposé of the toxic culture within the Federal Reserve.

In the early 2000s, as a Wall Street escapee writing a financial column for the Dallas Morning News, Booth attracted attention for her bold criticism of the Fed's low interest rate policies and her cautionary warnings about the bubbly housing market. Nobody was more surprised than she when the folks at the Dallas Federal Reserve invited her aboard. Figuring she could have more of an impact on Fed policies from the inside, she accepted the call to duty and rose to be one of Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher's closest advisors.

To her dismay, the culture at the Fed - and its leadership - were not just ignorant of the brewing financial crisis but indifferent to its very possibility. They interpreted their job of keeping the economy going to mean keeping Wall Street afloat at the expense of the American taxpayer. But bad Fed policy created unaffordable housing, skewed incentives, rampant corporate financial engineering, stagnant wages, an exodus from the labor force, and skyrocketing student debt. Booth observed firsthand how the Fed abdicated its responsibility to the American people both before and after the financial crisis - and how nobody within the Fed seems to have learned or changed from the experience.

Today the Federal Reserve is still controlled by 1,000 PhD economists and run by an unelected West Coast radical with no direct business experience. The Fed continues to enable Congress to grow our nation's ballooning debt and avoid making hard choices, despite the high psychological and monetary costs. And our addiction to the "heroin" of low interest rates is pushing our economy toward yet another collapse.

This book is Booth's clarion call for a change in the way America's most powerful financial institution is run - before it's too late.

©2017 Danielle DiMartino Booth (P)2017 Penguin Audio

straight forward brilliant

I love it when people that have extreme experience in life are able to put it in a book and give you real insight

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

good analysis of fed dysfunction. but.....

the author surely has an experienced and insightful knowledge of the inner workings of the Fed, and concisely boils down the problems at the end of the book. since she is technically an Insider it's not surprising that she does not identify the much larger systemic and mechanical failings which cause the FED to be conflicted and deficient in serving the U. S. citizenry.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Love the book and her Audible presentation!!

Danielle’s book is excellent and so is her presentation! I learned so much and she kept my attention throughout. I am not an economist, I’m not in banking or finance, but I am interested in the Federal Reserve System going back to the beginning. I’m a bit of a historian I suppose. She has inspired me to continue my study of central banking. Many thanks!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Disappointed.

Would you try another book from Danielle DiMartino Booth and/or Danielle DiMartino Booth?

Probably not. I don't like her writing style.

What three words best describe Danielle DiMartino Booth’s performance?

Her performance in the studio is just fine, but I feel her writing style and center of focus distracts from any significant points she's trying to make.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Maybe.

Any additional comments?

After G. Edward Griffin's book, "The Creature From Jekyll Island", this reads like a gossip column. I wanted the perspective of an insider, but I feel like I heard more about how other insiders dressed and looked than anything else.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Unbelievable insight into what happened to my money!

Wow! This book provides an eye opening view of the bad egghead decision makers who greedily made bad decisions or lack there of decisions at the Federal Reserve and how it had affected me and my family over the years! A truthful tell all with sighted documentation! Very scary that we put so much trust in the hands of the Feds without proper checks and balances preventing decisions that solve issues for one group but create big one for groups to come. The Feds forgot who they were protecting! Money does enable growth. Don't prevent hard working Americans from well deserved rewards. A must read for all!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Excellent Review Of The 2008/09 Financial Crisis

If you missed the 2008/09 financial crisis or forgot exactly what happened, you should listen to this book. Especially if you have financial exposure to the stock and/or bond markets (i.e., retirement accounts). It's happened before, it will happen again, and next time will be far more devistating than the last.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Required Reading

A lot has been said about the Fed and housing/finance/banking crises, as well as the subsequent actions of those in-charge. What we have seldom heard was an insider’s take on the worldview and framework of those decision-makers, and how their severely flawed understanding of the real world implications of their theory-based decisions and academic experiments contributed to unprecedented risk and destruction of wealth.

Out of all the books out there on this subject, I would rank this as a top 3. Not only is the content outstanding, but the narration and story-telling is great as well.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Very informative!

I hope the right people read this book and perhaps we can see some positive change in the FED, some true diversity of thought and philosophy.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

STUNNING REVELATION - Cause of Middle Class Misery

Would you consider the audio edition of Fed Up to be better than the print version?

Absolutely! To hear the author's voice describing the absolute fiction created by central banks and Central Bankers is priceless. You cannot get the tone, nor nuance by reading her words.

What did you like best about this story?

Danielle writes clearly and concisely in words everyone understands. And unlike many books about global problems, she provides clear and simple (not easy) solutions.

Have you listened to any of Danielle DiMartino Booth’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have seen her at conferences as well as on major networks. Hearing her, unconstrained by the need for sound bites or interruptions; she outdoes herself vis-a-vis every other venue.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

FED HYPOCRISY EXPOSED

Any additional comments?

Every American should read this book. We cannot come together as a nation to solve our problems until we come to terms with one of their major causes.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

a keen look at a hard-to-define institution

the narrator was excellent. The writing was better. The story told was the best.

the Fed is an arcane institution whose function is obscured by jargon that often seems intentionally convoluted. the role of the central bank and the tools at its disposal can seem impenetrable to anyone without concurrent degrees in economics, political science, and finance. This book breaks that barrier and explains the actions by massivley powerful and breathtakingly anonymous people as the world began to unravel in the aftermath pf the housing crisis. highly recommended.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful