Economic Puppetmasters: Lessons from the Halls of Power

Despite the title, there are no puppetmasters in Lindsey's view, and the interviews with such figures as Alan Greenspan, Helmut Kohl and George Soros seems more concerned with describing describing the office furniture than the subjects' deep thoughts. Lindsey, a former governor of the Federal Reserve Board, offers a detailed snapshot of the world economy in the autumn of 1998. Its strength is its breadth as Lindsey moves seamlessly back and forth in time, from theory to practice and into every part of the economically developed world. Its weakness is sloppy writing, repetitiveness and an uncritical enthusiasm for the existing shape of the free market. Instead of simply stating that democratic political institutions created undemocratic economic institutions, Lindsey writes: ""As a result, each role was demanded by, or at least had its continued existence sanctioned by, the democratic institutions of their respective countries, even though, in many respects, the role being demanded had undemocratic aspects."" In the end, this is a partisan work that lays groundwork for a Republican economic platform and rises to the defense of Republicans from Herbert Hoover to Ronald Reagan while offering approving explanations of Milton Friedman-style supply-side economics. Serious students of political economy will overlook the stylistic lapses for the author's rare combination of expertise, experience and access. Moderate Republicans, given Lindsey's intellectual defense of tax and spending cuts, will want to adorn their shelves with this book. Lay readers and market skeptics will have trouble making it past the first chapter. (Feb.)