The Volcker Way
Lessons From the Last Great Hero of Modern Finance
Article Summary and Author Biography
From the demise of the gold standard in the 1970s to the battle over financial reform today, Paul Volcker has helped shape U.S. economic policy for decades. A new biography underscores what today's public servants might learn from his storied career.
AUSTAN GOOLSBEE is Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He served as Chair of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers in 2010-11. Follow him on Twitter @Austan_Goolsbee.
No mirrors and smoke here: Paul Volcker testifying before the House Banking Committee in 1980. (George Tames / New York Times)
The global economy was not the only casualty of the 2008 financial collapse. The crisis also soiled the reputations of many in the financial industry and of the regulators, political leaders, and media outlets that were supposed to keep them in check. So William Silber's new biography of Paul Volcker, one of the last remaining heroes of modern finance, could not have come at a better time.
Silber, an economist at New York University, uses his book to walk the reader through some of the important episodes in Volcker's long and storied career, during which he served in five U.S. administrations. These episodes include his stint as undersecretary for monetary affairs at the Treasury Department, from 1969 to 1974, when the United States abandoned the convertibility of the dollar into gold; his successful crusade against inflation as chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve in the 1980s; and his work following the recent financial crisis, when he backed the provision now called "the Volcker rule," which bars commercial banks from engaging in proprietary trading (investments that banks make for their own profits, not on behalf of clients).
By focusing on these moments, Silber's meticulously researched book offers useful insights into recent American economic history and the life of one of its most fascinating figures. Although the details of these episodes may seem distant, Volcker reminds readers just how precarious the circumstances were -- and how policymakers might confront similar crises in the future.
PRESENT AT THE INFLATION
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