Chairman of the Fed : William McChesney Martin Jr. and the creation of the modern American financial system / Robert P. Bremner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bremner, Robert P., 1940-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Martin, William McChesney, Jr., 1906-1998.

Martin, William McChesney.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.)--Officials and employees--Biography.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).

Government economists--United States--Biography.

Government economists.

United States--Economic policy--1945-1960.

United States.

Economic policy.

United States--Economic policy--1961-1971.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

vi, 357 pages, 10 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New Haven [Conn.] : Yale University Press, [2004]

Summary:

This is the first biography of William McChesney Martin Jr. (1906-1998), the first paid president of the New York Stock Exchange and the chairman of the Federal Reserve System under Presidents Truman to Nixon. The extent of Martin's influence on the course of American economic history is significant: arguably he has done more to strengthen and reform the nation's most important financial institutions than any other individual.

Martin's career-from 1938 when he took the helm of the NYSE to 1970 when he retired after nineteen years as chairman of the Fed-parallels the evolution of the American financial system in the twentieth century. The uncontrolled boom and bust cycles of the late-nineteenth-century financial system gave way to the current system based on continuous economic management, regulatory checks and balances, and international financial coordination. Despite the opposition of vested economic interests and the hostility of influential politicians, Martin and other courageous public servants achieved the changes that enabled the financial markets in the United States to become the freest, most efficient, and most effectively regulated markets in the world.

Chairman of the Fed tells William Martin's fascinating life story and explains his lasting impact on the NYSE and the Fed, both troubled institutions that were transformed under his leadership. The book provides an inside look into the economic deliberations of five presidential administrations and describes Martin's battles to bring about ethical and intelligent regulation of U.S. financial markets. His experiences shed light not only on the history and evolution of the American financial system but also on critical issues that confront the system today.

Contents:

Introduction: Who Was Bill Martin? 1

1 A Family of Substance: The Early Years 7

2 Into the Maelstrom: Wall Street in the 1930s 17

3 Cleaning the Augean Stables of Capitalism: The New York Stock Exchange Presidency 35

4 From President to Private and Back Again: World War II and the Export-Import Bank Years 52

5 From Crisis to Crisis: The Truman Administration and the Fed 68

6 By Fits and Starts: The Early Eisenhower Years 93

7 Trying to Manage Prosperity: The Late Eisenhower Years 120

8 Gunfight on the New Frontier: The Kennedy Years 149

9 Sowing the Wind: The Early Johnson Years 186

10 Reaping the Whirlwind: The Late Johnson Years 227

11 Passing the Torch: The Nixon Administration 260

12 The Public Private Citizen: Retirement 279

Epilogue: Bill Martin's Legacy 294

Appendix Selected Economic Statistics of the Martin Era at the Fed 301.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 309-344) and index.

ISBN:

0300105088

OCLC:

55229082