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.
