Keeping At It_ The Quest for Sound Money and Good Government

319 Pages·2018·11.614 MB·English

by  Paul A. Volcker and Christine Harper

Copyright
Copyright © 2018 by Paul A. Volcker and Christine Harper
Cover design by Pete Garceau
Cover photograph copyright © Henry Leutwyler/Contour by Getty Images
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Set in 12-point Adobe Caslon
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018958758
ISBN 978-1-5417-8831-2 (Hardcover); ISBN 978-1-5417-8829-9 (Ebook)
E3-20181009-JV-NF
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Timeline
introductionThe Wise Old Parrot
chapter 1Growing Up
chapter 2Getting an Education
chapter 3Early Experience
chapter 4Off to Washington
chapter 5“The Best Job in the World”
chapter 6Monetary Reform Frustrated
chapter 7Back to the Beginning
chapter 8Attacking Inflation
chapter 9Financial Crises, Domestic and International
chapter 10Unfinished Business: Repairing the Financial
System
chapter 11After the Fed
chapter 12Mr. Chairman in Several Guises
chapter 13The Search for Integrity
chapter 14Setting Standards
chapter 15The New Financial World: Breakdown and Reform
chapter 16The Three Verities
epilogueCredit Where Credit Is Due
Photos
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Notes
Index
To Anke,
who more than anyone deserves the credit for this wise old parrot’s
ability to produce a memoir at age ninety.
Just one small reflection of a love story too often left untold.
TIMELINE
SeptemberPaul A. Volcker Jr. born in Cape May, New Jersey.
5, 1927
1930 Volcker family moves to Teaneck, New Jersey, where Paul Sr.
becomes town manager for twenty years.
July 1944 International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank are created.
1949 Volcker graduates from Princeton with highest honors for senior
thesis on the Federal Reserve.
1951 Volcker leaves Harvard University’s Graduate School of Public
Administration after passing the general exam for his PhD.
March 3, Treasury-Fed Accord reestablishes the Federal Reserve’s
1951 independence from the Treasury.
April 2, William McChesney Martin becomes Federal Reserve Board
1951 chairman.
1951– Volcker is Rotary fellow at the London School of Economics.
1952
1952 Volcker joins New York Fed as junior economist, moves to
Brooklyn Heights, New York, close to the Brooklyn Dodgers.
SeptemberVolcker marries Barbara Marie Bahnson in Jersey City, New
11, 1954 Jersey.
August Janice Louise Volcker born.
20, 1955
1957 Volcker moves to Plainfield, New Jersey, and joins Chase as a
research economist.
May 10, James Paul Volcker born.
1958
January 8,Volcker joins Treasury as director of the new Office of Financial
1962 Analysis under Robert Roosa and Secretary Douglas Dillon.
NovemberVolcker named to succeed J. Dewey Daane as Treasury’s deputy
18, 1963 under secretary of monetary affairs.
NovemberKennedy assassinated, Lyndon Johnson becomes president.
22, 1963
DecemberRoosa leaves Treasury to join Brown Brothers.
31, 1964
April 1, Fowler succeeds Dillon as Treasury secretary.
1965
October Johnson clashes with Federal Reserve chairman Martin at White
6, 1965 House, calls for delay in raising interest rates.
NovemberVolcker joins Chase as director of forward planning and moves to
1965 Montclair, New Jersey.
January President Richard Nixon inaugurated.
20, 1969
January Volcker attends meeting with Nixon, David Kennedy, and Charls
22, 1969 Walker in the Oval Office. Volcker officially nominated as
Treasury under secretary for monetary affairs, “the best job in the
world.”
February Arthur Burns replaces Martin as chairman.
1, 1970
February John Connally sworn in as Treasury secretary.
11, 1971
May 28, Connally’s international debut at banking conference in Munich,
1971 Germany.
August Nixon closes gold window, ending official convertibility of the
15, 1971 dollar into gold at $35 per ounce, as part of his “new economic
policy.”
SeptemberConnally tells Group of Ten meeting in London that the United
15, 1971 States wants a $13 billion swing in its balance of international
payments.
NovemberGroup of Ten meeting in Rome.
30, 1971
DecemberNixon agrees with France’s Georges Pompidou in the Azores to