itibaren Silvercreek, NE, Birleşik Devletler itibaren Silvercreek, NE, Birleşik Devletler

Rajan does an exceptional job of distilling the factors leading to the 2008 financial sector meltdown, linking the actions of government (both US and world governments) and the private sector, and dispassionately describing the various ways they contributed to the creation and bursting of the bubble. He also makes some very cogent and disturbing points about the lack of correction (and in some cases, exacerbation) of the "fault lines' he identifies in the world economy, which threaten to push us through the entire cycle once again. Having served as Chief Economist of the IMF, his world macroeconomic perspective is broad and very enlightening, as well as impressively non-ideological (unless you think viewing the crisis through the lens of economics is inherently ideological, in which case good luck with fixing economic policy). Rajan's prescriptions are common-sense, but overly broad in some ways. His discussions of direct monetary, fiscal and trade policies are pretty straightforward, and can be implemented by governments without too much upheaval, but some of the subtler ones are stickier. He talks about improving early education in America, for instance, but without a clear roadmap (politically or policy-wise) for doing so. That would probably require another book all by itself, but you'd like to see him take more of a stand on how to get from here to there. Perhaps he doesn't like to do that without subjecting his conclusions to the same level of rigor, which is fair, but it leaves those sections feeling a bit hollow. All in all, though, it's a pretty short and easy, but comprehensive, analysis of the causes of our current economic woes, and how to avoid subjecting ourselves to further wild, cyclical booms and busts.

I started this one this morning...and finished it this evening!! The story pulled me in...the bonds between family and friendship just carried me through the book at lightening speed! The book was broken out in parts by the decade, with a song theme that reflected the relationship and lives of Tully and Kate. I loved how this defined the book and reflected the characters. Tully annoyed me, a lot actually! Her arrogance and overshadowing of Kate bordered on relationship killer, but that is the reason their friendship survived. Kate understood Tully, in a way that no one else did, so she could see past the glamor and fame.