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Title: America's Bank

Subtitle: The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve

Author: Roger Lowenstein

Narrator: Robertson Dean

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-20-15

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 212 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The tumultuous era and remarkable personalities that unexpectedly birthed the Federal Reserve, from renowned financial writer Roger Lowenstein

Until the election of Woodrow Wilson the United States - alone among developed nations - lacked a central bank. Ever since the Revolutionary War, Americans had desperately feared the consequences of centralizing the nation's finances under government control. However, in the aftermath of a disastrous financial panic, Congress was persuaded - by a confluence of populist unrest, widespread mistrust of bankers, ideological divisions, and secretive lobbying - to approve the landmark 1913 Federal Reserve Act.

Writing in a rich and untapped historical vein, Roger Lowenstein - acclaimed financial journalist and best-selling author of When Genius Failed and The End of Wall Street - reveals the drama-filled, unlikely story of how America created the Federal Reserve, thereby taking its first steps onto the world stage as a global financial power. America's Bank showcases Lowenstein at his very finest: illuminating complex financial and political issues with striking clarity, infusing the debates of our past with all the gripping immediacy of today, and painting unforgettable portraits of Gilded Age bankers, presidents, and politicians.

With America's Bank, Lowenstein focuses on the four men at the heart of the drama to create the Federal Reserve. These are Paul Warburg, a refined, German-born financier, recently relocated to New York, who was horrified at America's primitive finances; Rhode Island's Nelson W. Aldrich, the reigning power broker in the US Senate and an archetypal Gilded Age legislator; Carter Glass, the ambitious but little-known Virginia congressman who chaired the House Banking and Currency Committee at a crucial moment of political transition; and, of course, President Woodrow Wilson....

Members Reviews:

Important and Intriguing

I heard Lowenstein on the New York Times book review podcast and it sounded interesting. I had just finished Courage to Act by Ben S. Bernanke and this book seem to fit right into the topic.

The book starts in 1787 and follows the topic of the need for a Federal Bank. Alexander Hamilton fought for a central bank but many opposed a strong federal government. Lowenstein goes into detail about President Wilson and his fight for the Federal Reserve and how they passed the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.

This is a story of politics, disagreements, decisions, including crises that culminated in the Federal Reserve Act. Lowensteins account of the financial crises before the establishment of the Fed powerfully demonstrates that it is imperative for the Federal Reserve System to maintain its effectiveness and independence from politics. The author gives us striking portraits of key figures well known and unknown, involved in the creation of the central bank.

The book is well written and well researched. The author writes in an engaging manner that makes dry material interesting.

There are currently a number of reforms being proposed in Congress that would undermine the effectiveness and independence of the Federal Reserve. This is a must read book to fully understand the history and all the issues involved, so one can understand the critical nature of the proposed changes to the Federal Reserve Act. Robertson Dean did a good job narrating the book.