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Trillion Dollar Triage
Book

Trillion Dollar Triage

How Jay Powell and the Fed Battled a President and a Pandemic—and Prevented Economic Disaster

Little, Brown US, 2022 more...


Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Eye Opening
  • Background
  • Insider's Take

Recommendation

During the 2008 global financial crisis, the Federal Reserve and the US government mounted a halting response that prolonged the economic agony. During the coronavirus downturn of 2020, by contrast, the Fed and the feds acted so decisively that they stabilized the economy in just a few months. As the chief economics correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Nick Timiraos had a front-row seat to the crisis. In this engrossing retelling, he paints Fed Chair Jerome Powell as a steady hand who made the right moves with minimal drama. Perhaps the only weak spot in this account is that it ends while Powell could still term inflation “transitory.”

Take-Aways

  • At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jerome Powell was at the helm of the US Federal Reserve.
  • Powell soon felt the wrath of President Donald Trump.
  • Powell responded swiftly to the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

About the Author

Nick Timiraos is the chief economics correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.


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