- Thomas M.
- Tuesday, March 14
The Financial Literacy book review series #FinLit recommends thought-provoking books about money, investing, and personal finance. This post is about Yellen by Jon Hilsenrath.
Between Janet Yellen’s role in handling recent bank failures and March being Women’s History Month, I could not pick another book but this one. Yellen’s lifelong career in economics is synonymous with the history of America’s economy, from teaching economics at a variety of prestigious universities to her posts as member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, vice chair and chair of the Federal Reserve, and currently the Secretary of the Treasury. She has worked for a number of US Presidents and seen the world weather multiple economic crises, as well as attempted to help steer America out of some of them.
Hilsenrath’s biography of Yellen does not let all that historical context go to waste. This book is as much about economic theories and how markets reacted to different government interventions over the decades as it is about Yellen’s life, upbringing, marriage, and career. She is the throughline that anchors all the academia and politics. I appreciated the stories about this president or that policymaker asking Yellen for advice and how she would bring discussions back to the human cost. During one heated moment at a Fed meeting about joblessness, she supposedly shouted, “These are [bleeping] people!” She’s an economist who takes care to crunch the numbers without crunching people.
Her life story is that of the studious, prepared scholar, though. Overachievers, here is your patron saint, someone who climbed the ladders of power through sheer presence of being the reliable, expert in the room who could digest volumes of data and repeat it in simple terms for everyone to understand. She and her husband, accomplished economist in his own right George Akerlof, have a vacation habit of reading for hours each morning. Sounds pretty great to this librarian! Feel free to indulge some hours for this book and learn about the ascendance of one of the most powerful women in the world today.
Thomas M. is a Certified Financial Education Instructor℠ (CFEI®) and has previously blogged about Financial Lessons That Can Backfire, Talking To Kids About Money, and Online Financial Literacy Library Resources.
