Empathy Economics
Janet Yellen's Remarkable Rise to Power and Her Drive to Spread Prosperity to All
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
Named one of Investopedia's 7 Best Economics Books of 2022
The trailblazing story of Janet Yellen, the Ruth Bader Ginsburg of economics, and her lifelong advocacy for an economics of empathy that delivers the fruits of a prosperous society to people at the bottom half of the economic ladder.
When President Biden announced Janet Yellen as his choice for secretary of the treasury, it was the peak moment of a remarkable life. Not only the first woman in the more than two-century history of the office, Yellen is the first person to hold all three top economic policy jobs in the United States: chair of both the Federal Reserve and the President’s Council of Economic Advisors as well as treasury secretary.
Through Owen Ullmann’s intimate portrait, we glean two remarkable aspects of Yellen’s approach to economics: first, her commitment to putting those on the bottom half of the economic ladder at the center of economic policy, and employing forward-looking ideas to use the power of government to create a more prosperous, productive life for everyone. And second, her ability to maintain humanity in a Washington policy world where fierce political combat casts others as either friend or enemy, never more so than in our current age of polarization.
As Ullmann takes us through Yellen’s life and work, we clearly see her brilliance and meticulous preparation. What stands out, though, is Yellen as an icon of progress—the “Ruth Bader Ginsburg of economics”—a superb-yet-different kind of player in a cold, male-dominated profession that all too often devises policies to benefit the already well-to-do. With humility and compassion as her trademarks, we see the influence of Yellen’s father, a physician whose pay-what-you-can philosophy meant never turning anyone away. That compassion, rooted in her family life in Brooklyn, now extends across our entire country.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Ullmann (Stockman) delivers a comprehensive biography of Janet Yellen, the first person to have achieved the "trifecta" of economic policymaking, serving as chair of the Federal Reserve, chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, and Secretary of the Treasury. Spotlighting Yellen's empathy, an emotion often absent from the arcane world of economic policy, Ullmann notes that she has endeavored to prioritize the economic concerns of Main Street over Wall Street by focusing on achieving full employment—even if it risks inflation. Yellen has also spoken up on behalf of the nearly one-third of Americans with criminal records, highlighting how a "strong job market" can help them find employment and build careers. The biographical details, including Yellen's affluent childhood as the daughter of a Brooklyn physician, her introduction to economics as a freshman at Brown University's Pembroke College, and her marriage to Nobel Prize winner George Akerlof, portray a woman who has rarely, if ever, made a misstep, personally or professionally. At times, Ullmann's portrait would benefit from a more critical eye, but he has amassed a wealth of details and lucidly explains complex economic theories and policies. This is an enlightening study of a trailblazing yet "unassuming" public figure.