Maestro, My Ass!

by Michael Ashton

From the Author's Prologue I wrote the original manuscript of this book in 2003, prior to any immediately obvious signs that a crash of the financial markets was on the near (one to five years) horizon. At that time I presented the manuscript to my employer, I was a trader for a major multinational bank, and asked permission to publish it. Since the manuscript was critical of Greenspan and his policies, and stated clearly where they would probably lead us, permission was not granted. At that time, major financial institutions hesitated to challenge Greenspan, and they were very cautious about allowing any of their employees to do so in a public forum. Now that I have left the bank, and the result of Greenspan's policies have been realized, I have decided that it is time to air these opinions and share some of my concerns and suggestions for the future. This is, to be sure, not as timely now as it would have been then. However, it would be presumptuous of me to suggest that publishing this book at that time would have made any difference in what subsequently has taken place-individuals with more authority than mine tried to warn the financial community of the impending disaster, and it is now obvious that they were not listened to. ... The case against Alan Greenspan will have to stand on the evidence presented; it's up to you to decide just how egregious Greenspan's errors of judgment were and whether or not what I have said here convinces you that proper analysis of the situation at the time would have forestalled the current crisis.

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Davy Bennett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished this book today, though I admit I didn’t ponder over all the graghs and explanations much.

I think it is good to give alternate views, so I am bumping this up from 1-star to 2.
The author seems like a smart guy, and remains a gentleman in his criticisms.

Off to some Thomas Wolfe, I am sure it will flow better.

Update after Chapter 12 of 15.
This is quite the slog, I am very tempted to quit this book and start something better.

This book is all Title, does not deliver so far [page 28].

Econ 101, maybe 202, and boring.

I just read Maestro and thought it was pretty good, though Woodward is an Establishment hack. I liked that oddball Greenspan. He was in Ayn Rands' inner circle, and played jazz clarinet at a high enough level to have been on stage with Stan Getz.

My hunch is that Greenspans knowledge dwarfed what this author brings.

How about his successors?

Can we do as Ron Paul wanted to do, and End the Fed?
I don't know, but it seems like the economy is so complex that nobody can tame it.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

shame Mike has been kept from publishing this in 2003 by his then employer; but then again, who would have listened ... ?

[Jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intelligent, clear, opinionated, irreverant (in case title didn't make this obvious)