A Laser Focused to-a-fault Macroeconomic History
4 stars
If you want an accessible, inside baseball, math-peppered history of the recent macroeconomic history of the US, this is the book for you. Complete with witty commentary, Blinder methodically works through the last 6 decades of the financial side of the US national government, only touching other issues if they intersect with that focus. While this is largely positive, the downside is that there is little analysis of the broader issues with particular policies (the 2008 financial crisis is a particular blind spot here). Beyond that, Blinder has a clear affinity for the different macroeconomic policymakers he covers. Of course everyone has biases, but the avoidance of criticisms in some cases is eyebrow raising.
Overall, this is an excellent, well-researched book that I highly recommend. Also do yourself a favor and spring for the audiobook version - the reader does incredible impressions of famous political figures!