Panderer to Power: The Untold Story of How Alan Greenspan Enriched Wall Street and Left a Legacy of Recession (repost)

Alan Greenspan’s 18-year stint as head of the Federal Reserve Bank witnessed some of the most massive upward redistributions of wealth in our nation’s history. It’s now clear that his policies contributed greatly to the transformation of Wall Street from an engine that financed American business to a business-destroying machine—and that Greenspan abetted the hollowing out of the U.S. economy by giving Wall Street and Washington everything they could possibly want.

To take the full measure of Greenspan’s culpability, we need to look beyond the disgraced public persona and see him within the broader sweep of his life and times. In Panderer to Power, author Frederick J. Sheehan delivers the first in-depth, critical biography of the man who, for nearly two decades, served as the world’s most powerful banker.

Beginning with Greenspan’s formative years as a Depression-era kid from New York City, Sheehan traces his subject’s progress from his days touring America as a reed man with the Henry Jerome Orchestra in the 1940s through his emergence as one of America’s first celebrity economists to his ascent through the ranks of power in D.C.

What emerges is a searing portrait of a shameless media hound who ferociously promoted his image as a straight-laced numbers cruncher, a Machiavelli whose political skills far surpassed his skills as an economist.

Drawing upon a vast array of original sources, the author leaves little room for doubt: either the “economic genius of our time” was oblivious to the hazards of his irresponsible policy decisions or he knew full well what he was doing, but chose, as he had throughout his career, to put self-interest above the public good.


Praise For PANDERER TO POWER

“We all owe a great debt to Fred Sheehan. Fred demolishes the myth of Alan Greenspan’s omniscience, while revealing the dangerous credulity of those who set him on a pedestal above the rest of us. Panderer to Power will be invaluable in making the case for how we might preserve our solvency and our system.”
Seth A. Klarman, president, Baupost Group, L.L.C.

“Many have written about the man who used to be called ‘Maestro.’ But none has done so with such clarity of perception as Frederick Sheehan. Between the covers of this timely and important book, the former Fed chairman stands revealed as America’s own Wizard of Oz.”
James Grant, editor, Grant’s Interest Rate Observer

“The Fed, Greenspan’s Fed, not only supplied the whiskey for the party, it led the charge for irresponsible behavior by essentially telling people ‘don’t worry, be happy.’ A thorough, in-depth look at the man who wrought so much damage on so many, this brilliant effort by Fred Sheehan is a major step in setting the record straight on this era.”
Bill Fleckenstein, president, Fleckenstein Capital and co-author, Greenspan’s Bubbles

“Fred Sheehan vividly shows in his excellent and long overdue account, the devastating monetary policies the Fed has pursued under Mr. Greenspan, which have been continued by Mr. Bernanke. After reading Panderer to Power, you will have no respect for the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, politicians, and Wall Street.”
Marc Faber, editor, Gloom, Doom and Boom Report

"An important part of Sheehan's book is Greenspan’s role in expanding this country’s monetary base far behind our means.”
–Boston Business Journal, November 2009

"This well written, though obviously polemic, text documents the issues as he sees them. When read in conjunction with Greenspan’s own biography, a picture emerges of a complex, obviously smart man who may have been promoted to a position beyond his competence, but was expert at covering up and obfuscation."
–Troy Media, November 2009