THE PASSIONATE ECONOMIST: Finding the Power and Humanity Behind the Numbers

"I put economics on the same level as some people practice religion," declares Swonk in this chronicle of her professional growth, from accidentally enrolling in an economics class as a college student to becoming chief economist at Chicago's Bank One. Clearly having thrived in her career, Swonk is particularly informative about the teamwork ethos she sees operating at the bank and the care with which her employees analyze the economy and market fundamentals of individual industries and sectors. Media-savvy in her ability to present her research results via compelling stories, she also explains how she became a regular commentator on such shows as Money Line with Lou Dobbs and Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street Week. Swonk mentions more than once that some regard her as an optimist because of her trademark confidence in the adaptability of the labor force and the essential resilience of the U.S. economy; her no-nonsense, Midwestern realist style comes across in shoot-from-the-hip remarks like "anyone who has heard Greenspan speak knows that he is still the master of saying very little in a lot of time and space." In addition to her memoir, Swonk is equally straightforward in bulleting her major policy points, forecasts and recommendations. In an unpretentious, clear format, she lays out a set of "Notes to Investors" and "Old Rules for the New Economy" that will be of great interest to general business readers who admire the author's refreshing outside New York perspective. (Feb.)