The Courage to Act

A Memoir of a Crisis and Its Aftermath

De: Ben S. Bernanke

Narrado por: Grover Gardner

In 2006, Ben S. Bernanke was appointed chair of the Federal Reserve, capping a meteoric trajectory from a rural South Carolina childhood to professorships at Stanford and Princeton, to public service in Washington's halls of power. There would be no time to celebrate, however - the burst of the housing bubble in 2007 set off a domino effect that would bring the global financial system to the brink of meltdown. In The Courage to Act, Bernanke pulls back the curtain on his efforts to prevent a mass economic failure, working with two US presidents and using every Fed capability, no matter how arcane, to keep the US economy afloat. His experiences during the initial crisis and the Great Recession that followed give listeners an unequaled perspective on the American economy since 2006, and his narrative will reveal for the first time how the creativity and decisiveness of a few key leaders prevented an economic collapse of unimaginable scale.

©2015 Ben S. Bernanke (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

POLITICS & ADMINISTRATION

Politics and administration is a marriage of necessity. Ben Bernanke writes a “nuts and bolts version” of the role of the Federal Reserve in the United States during the economic crises of 2007-2008, a crisis that continues to plague the world.

Bernanke is the chairman of the Federal Reserve during the near collapse of the world economy. The story Bernanke tells is consistent with most details revealed by Tim Geithner and Henry Paulson (the former Department of the Treasury Secretaries) during the worst part of the 2007-2008 global financial crises.

Without a level of cooperation between politics and public administration, it is entirely possible America would be in the middle of its second great depression.

The Federal Reserve, the Departments of Treasury, and America’s elected officials successfully saved America from a second Great Depression. Messy politics saves America; i.e., the political interface between President Bush, President Obama, Treasury Secretaries Paulson and Geithner, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, Senators and Representatives of Congress, and the Supreme Court cussed, discussed, agreed, and disagreed to keep America great.

love it!

great insights on how the feds work and in the mind of a banker. I have so much more respect for Ben after reading this book

Great book about the great recession and understanding economics

Good information on economics the decisions made in the great recession and details on why they were made. Highly recommend.

Historical Insights on Bernanke and the Fed During GFC

Bernanke provides a good book on his growing up, academic work, and times in the Bush White House and Federal Reserve. While I disagree with much of his actions during his term as Fed chairman, especially bailing out banks and providing too much money in the economy, Bernanke made strong arguments for his actions and those in government during the Great Financial Crisis. Unfortunately, these measure made precedence for even worse monetary actions during the Great Lockdown Recession. I have learned much from Bernanke in his academic and government work and appreciate this book. Check it out.

Read and understand what happened in 2007-2009

If you could sum up The Courage to Act in three words, what would they be?

What really happened

Any additional comments?

Not everyone will like or be interested in this book as it is very technical and limited to those who want to understand what happened to the economy in 2007-2009. But for those who form opinions from tv shows that pretend to give you news but really just promote a political opinion, you might want to listen to this book to understand what the back story and facts are without the spin factor. Most facts are documentable based upon what really happened.I am in the Financial industry and lived through and was affected by much of this. I Can you tell you without the actions described by Bernanke being taken, we would still be in a horrible recession today. Listen and learn.

Excellent history

It would be benefitial to write another book explaining the scenario of events if Bernanke had not done what he did. It would then reveal the value of the heroic deeds and maneuvers that were put in place to avoid a catastrophic ending.

Educational. Informative.

While as biased as you would expect an autobiography to be, I was impressed with the author's ability to translate complicated concepts into layman's terms without dumbing down the substance. A great read for perspective on the Fed and the recent crisis.

Well-written first person account

I appreciate that Ben Bernanke wrote the book with a general audience in mind with no technical concepts left unexplained.

Great Behind the Scenes Peak!

Helicopter Ben! A masterful read with a thorough and detailed understanding of the causes and subsequent antidotes to the Great Recession.

Remarkable story; Well-modulated

Remarkable story, clearly written. Brenanke’s memoir is compelling, intelligent, and instructive. He tells the story of how the Federal Reserve operated during the financial crisis of 2006-2009. He writes a very good story and teaches along the way. We learn about a key historic event but also learn about the Fed and if not familiar, economic and financial concepts. This was a meaningful read.