The Alchemists by Neil Irwin

The Alchemists by Neil Irwin

Neil Irwin's The Alchemists is a gripping account of the most intense exercise in economic crisis management we've ever seen; a poker game in which the stakes have run into the trillions of dollars. The book begins in Stockholm, Sweden, in the seventeenth century, where central banking had its rocky birth. It then progresses through a brisk but dazzling tutorial on how the central banker came to exert such vast influence over our world, from its troubled beginnings to the Age of Greenspan, bringing the reader into the present with a marvelous handle on how these figures and institutions became what they are - the possessors of extraordinary power over our collective fate. What they chose to do with those powers is the heart of the story Irwin tells. Irwin covered the Fed and other central banks from the earliest days of the crisis for the Washington Post, enjoying privileged access to leading central bankers and people close to them. His account, based on reporting that took place in 27 cities in 11 countries, is the holistic, truly global story of the central bankers' role in the world economy we have been missing. It is a landmark reckoning with central bankers and their power, with the great financial crisis of our time, and with the history of the relationship between capitalism and the state. Definitive, revelatory, and riveting, The Alchemists shows us where money comes from-and where it may well be going.

Neil Irwin is a columnist for the Washington Post and the Wonkblog's economics editor. He was the Post's beat reporter throughout the global financial crisis, recession, and aftermath from 2007 to 2012. He graduated from Columbia University with a master's degree in business administration and was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Economic and Business Journalism. He is a frequent guest on MSNBC, CNBC, and the PBS Newshour, where he discusses economic issues. He is a Washington resident.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781594204623
ISBN 10	1594204624
Title	The Alchemists
Author	Neil Irwin
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Penguin Putnam Inc
Year published	2013-04-04
Number of pages	400
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.