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Bob Woodward called his biography of Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan Maestro for two reasons. First, Greenspan is a musician. He started out as a Julliard-trained jazz sax man. "He wasn't a good improviser," Woodward reports. And while the other guys got stoned all night, Greenspan "read economics and business books and eventually became the band's bookkeeper." He also cultivated powerful pals, like Ayn Rand, whose coterie dubbed the dour young man "The Undertaker."
More profoundly, Greenspan is a maestro, a conductor, exquisitely attuned to every instrument in the political and economic orchestra. He rules by consensus, but with a firm hand and notoriously inscrutable words. Marvelously, Woodward relates that Greenspan had to propose twice to his wife, the violinist-turned-TV news star Andrea Mitchell, before she understood: "His verbal obscurity and caution were so ingrained that Mitchell didn't even know that he had asked her to marry him." Woodward gives us the inside story of what Greenspan really thinks and how he outmaneuvered the most ruthless politicians on earth in some of the hairiest times imaginable, from the 1987 stock market crash to the 1994-95 Mexican crisis to the stomach-churning turn of the century. It turns out that for all his awesome knowledge of monetary minutiae, the Fed chief literally relies on "a pain in the pit of my stomach" to make decisions. "At times, he found his body sensed danger before his head," writes Woodward. The Fed chief also adapts Einstein's technique to economics, hunting for discrepancies as keys to deeper theories. Einstein made breakthroughs out of bent light; Greenspan deduced productivity gains that government statisticians had overlooked for years. (The gains appeared when Greenspan made the statisticians calculate productivity by business sector, the way it's done in the real world.)
Woodward's prose is cool and rational, not exuberant. But if you're into economics and politics, you'll find a rich gossip trove here. Who knew Reagan had a draft of a presidential order to shut down Wall Street trading at hand in 1987? Scary! Reading Maestro is better than sitting with Greenspan in his famous tub as he charts your future--it's like being right there inside his head. --Tim Appelo
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In eight Tuesdays each year, Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan convenes a small committee to set the short-term interest rate that can move through the American and world economies like an electric jolt. As much as any, the committee's actions determine the economic well-being of every American. The availability of money for business or consumer loans, mortgages, job creation and overall national economic growth flows from those decisions. Perhaps the last Washington secret is how the Federal Reserve and its enigmatic chairman, Alan Greenspan, operate. In Maestro, Bob Woodward takes you inside the Fed and Greenspan's thinking. We listen to the Fed's internal debates as the American economy is pushed into a historic 10-year expansion while the world economy lurches from financial crisis to financial crisis. Greenspan plays a sometimes subtle, sometimes blunt behind-the-scenes role. He appears in Maestro up close as never before -- alternately nervous and calm, plunging into mathematics one moment and politics the next, skeptical, dispassionate, always struggling -- often alone.
Maestro traces a fascinating intellectual journey as Greenspan, an old-school anti-inflation hawk of the traditional economy, is among the first to realize the potential in the modern, high-productivity new economy -- the foundation of the current American boom. Woodward's account of the Greenspan years is a remarkable portrait of a man who has become the symbol of American economic preeminence.
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Woodward's bestselling "The Agenda" presented a thrilling, intimate portrait of the making of economic policy during President Clinton's first year in office. The author now returns to the economic arena to examine why and how the present boom came to be.
Customer Reviews:
"The nurturing of capital and property ownership.".......2007-09-10
While there are some interesting tidbits throughout, ie Alan Greenspans association with Ayn Rand, the familiar names of the politically entrenched and the precarious state our nations economic machinations, this book was a bit boring. What I did find fascinating was the level of Ivy League ambition in our nations capital and Greenspans savvy manuevering therein.
Maestro Review .......2007-08-19
Among collegiate literature which I have been exposed to, I have found Bob Woodward's Maestro to be one of the most informative and educational. With this simple and easy to understand narrative, I have been taken inside the doors of the Federal Reserve, and have been given a picture of how the FOMC truly operates. I feel more equipped to discuss and express opinion towards the operations of the Fed. Upon the completion of this book, I sat back with a sense of gratification, in my newly acquired, practical understanding of the U.S. economy. Woodward was able to portray Monetary Policy in a sense that really applied to my level of thinking.
With an inside look at the decisions of Alan Greenspan and his role as chairman of the Federal Reserve, I was stuck with a sense of amazement watching this man operate mathematically and politically, still maintaining a sense of pure awareness and concern for the long-term affects of his resolutions. I would definitely recommend this book to any reader in search of a practical and realistic understanding of the economic engine which drives the U.S.
I Can't Believe I LOVED a Book on Greenspan!.......2007-04-10
I read this book wanting to be better informed about how The Fed and Greenspan operate, and wound up being nicely informed and entertained. Understanding how banks, the White House and political appointments co-exist in the field of economics, I never thought I would ever use the phrase "hard-to-put-down" in connection with an economics/banking book but this one really did it for me. It is a genuine page turner and definitely Woodward's most underrated and under-discussed books. (No caller mentioned this work during his 3-hour C-Span interview a few months back.) Get your hands on a copy of this book and prepare for an interesting and enjoyable ride. My one complaint: I wish it were longer. Although this book answered all my "Fed" questions, I wished its time track would continue to the present, or perhaps delve a little deeper into the past. But this minor complaint notwithstanding, the book was an excellent and engaging read.
Maestro.......2006-12-02
First, a brief note about what others have stated about the author and his relationship with the "establishment." Bob Woodward has always gotten close to the sources and heart of the story. It seems Woodward is inside and part of the system much moreso than than simply observing and reporting about it from the outside. In "Maestro," perhaps such conjecture is irrelevant. (Some biographers are more sympathetic to the subject.) If one is on the inside he/she has greater access to corroborated information and gets to know what's really going on behind the scenes.
The downside is that a person can also develop relationships with the people they write about (e.g. become friends, or admiring acquaintances). Insider or not, Woodward is and has been....a part of the establishment. But this isn't necessarily a reason to take anything away from him in this book. Woodward provides lots of details into Greenspan, the FOMC, and daily working of the Fed, as well as the politics and motivations behind individual and institutional actions.
This bio starts with brief glimpses into Greenspan's parents, his upbringing, and school days. It then moves to his young adulthood and formative years. The young Greenspan was 26 when he met philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand. He held many discussions with her and became a part of her inner circle. Then, as now, Greenspan believes in the philosophy of "Logical Positivism," which asserts that "nothing could be known rationally with total certainty."
"Maestro" spends a lot of time on the workings, structure, and politics of the Fed. As for the structure of the Federal Reserve Board, the President appoints board members to the Fed and the Senate confirms them, to a term of 14 years. These lengthy terms are designed to position the board members above politics. The appointments however, are influential and political. The Secretary of Treasury traditionally acts as a liaison between the administration and board members.
The FOMC is the Federal Open Market Committee, (then) chaired by By Greenspan. The FOMC has 12 voting members, seven of which which, are Fed Governors. 5 of are presidents (out of a total of twelve) of the Federal Reserve district banks in the U.S. The FOMC meets every six weeks to discuss and set the the short-term funds rate.
This book also notes how Greenspan's statements are interpreted by the media and the markets that react to them.
Greenspan's famous and carefully crafted ambiguous statements are misinterpreted, oversimplified, and over-reacted to constantly by the 'talking heads' and knee-jerk profit takers and short-termers.
It's become so common in recent years to listen to talking heads Analyze phrases, words, and sentences given by Greenspan (and now Bernanke) when they present reports and testimony. Below is one example of what commonly happens after the Fed Chairman utters his alphabet soup of ambiguity, as in this 1995 comment from Allen Greenspan:
"I don't see any problem that really disturb me" followed by, "As a consequence of the sluggish economic outlook, the probabilities, as some of my colleagues have indicated, of a recession have edged up, as indeed one would expect." This statement was made in 1995 at an international banking conference in Seattle .
Here are two major headlines responses to this statement:
"Greenspan Sees Chance of Recession" --The New York Times.
"Recession Is Unlikely, Greenspan Concludes" --The Washington Post.
Greenspan refers to these responses by the media and talking heads as "Constructive Ambiguity" (p. 147).
The Chairman of the Federal Reserve and board is considered to be the most important position in the governance and overseeing of the U.S. economy. This book makes a mundane topic and institution interesting.
One thing I liked about Greenspan. He believed in an "institutional rule of survival" in Washington: bring the bad news yourself. Look people in the eye, lay out the facts, and be direct (p. 53).
Some people think there is an element of fawning in this biography. Sometimes there seems to be some subtle praise. Aside from this, the media's categorization of Greenspan as a 'rock star' is oversimplified. It seems Woodward liked Greenspan's tenure. A lot of people did.
How to feel your way to the correct interest rate.......2006-05-03
Woodward will give you a feel for how Greenspan feels (this feeling is developed from massive amounts of economic dated and dicussions with other experts) his way along to a decision on interest rates. There is no clear-cut method for getting the interest rates to just the right level. Now that Greenspan is gone and left us with a boom, we have to be concerned that Ben Bernanke will also develop just the right feel. And probably more importantly--may he be just as lucky as Alan Greenspan.
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Positive Political Economy: Theory and Evidence
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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ASIN: 0521572150 |
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Positive Political Economy investigates how observed differences in institutions affect political and economic outcomes in various social, economic and political systems. It also examines how the institutions themselves change and develop in response to individual and collective beliefs, preferences and strategies. This volume tackles both monetary and real topics in an integrated way, and represents the first coherent empirical investigation of positive models of political economy.
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The Federal Reserve banking system was created in 1913 in an effort to bring coherence to nationwide banking practices and prevent crises like the financial panic of 1907. Since it began operating in 1914, the Federal Reserve has played a crucial role in determining American financial policy and practice. It is largely an entity unto itself, operating independently, rarely subject to the political machinations of Congress or the presidency. Yet few Americans know how it works, and even fewer know anything of its history.
This history of the Federal Reserve begins by giving an overview of American banking practices before the Federal Reserve's formation. The events leading to the Reserve's creation, and its early trials and tribulations, are then documented. Subsequent chapters track the Federal Reserve's history: its role during times of financial and military crisis, its relationship to each presidential administration, and the Fed's evolution as its leadership has changed over the years. The history wraps up with the Alan Greenspan era, explaining major changes in the institution's operating procedures since the 1980s. An appendix lists all members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, from its formation until 2003.
Customer Reviews:
The Court and Its Chairman At A Pivotal Time........2005-09-05
Greenspan was the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board for many years and cultivated the money men to influence his thinking.
He's called "the most powerful man in the world" and yet there has always been a sense of mystery which surround his private life. Coming from Washington Heights in New York where he lived wiht his grandparents, to become a power proker of the "first Order," he excelled in how to manage money and control economic crises. He was pivotal in America's economic expansion. Now, that he is retiring, the United States of Europe are taking over as the superpower of the wealthy.
Author Justin Martin detaials Greenspan's training as an economist. Using the opinions and knowledge of his peers, Henry Kissinger, Milton Friedman and former U. S. Predsident Gerald Ford, who appointed him to the Federal Reserve. He served under five presidents on the Federal Reserve Board and Chairman. In the photo section, he is shown with former presidents Gore, Clinton, Reagan, Nixon, and Bush, Sr.
Before that heady position, he excelled in academics and music at George Washington High School; in the '43 yearbook, he was listed as taking part in orchestra, dance band, was class president, and labeled as "smart as a whip and talented." He was a musician at Julliard, and played clarinet and saxophone as he toured with Henry Jerome's jazz band and in a trio. Learning the strict precision of playing instruments aided him in making complicated decisions as Chief Justice of this august group.
He hobnobbed with the wealthy at the O'Conner parties, including Allen Blumenthal in the mid '50s. Nothing keep him from marrying two beautiful women. Like Prince Charles of England, he had two women in his first marriage, a young beauty and Ann Rand who played a big role in his life. She was his Camilla. An old man never learns, even a smart one -- he married again in 1997 to a 'dead ringer' of his first wife. This time he married up into society.
Just as another super hero of an earlier era, Nathan Bedford Forrest, the greatest Civil War General (according to Robert E. Lee), he was the target of cartoonists (not comics!). In one, he is one of the five "enduring national monuments" in Washington, D.C. In another, the favorite of Justin Martin's aunt (her contribution to the book), he's shown being "tempted" by dancing naked women whose large proportions had prominent n....s. holding banners for the dot com groups.
As a teenager with rolled up jeans, he is talller than his mom, Rose Goldsmith, who held the Bible when he was sworn in as Chairman of Council of Economic Advisers in 1974. He's shown in the Oval office under the portrait of George Washington (what's more appropriate?) with Bush, Sr. and cronies.
To end with a riddle: How many bankers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? One, Greenspan holds the bulb and the world revolves around him. That's the story of his life. He is certainly an exceptional individual, a marvelous government servant as opposed to the two giving me "what-for" right now
Very timely and important reading.......2004-12-08
The Federal Reserve banking system was created in 1913 to stabilize banking practices: while it's often in the news today, few Americans actually know the background of its creation and its effects on American lives. Donald Wells is a professor of economics from the University of Memphis with extensive studies in baking: his guide, The Federal Reserve System: A History, provides not just a review of the Federal Reserve's establishment and effects, but a survey of the entire American banking system. Very timely and important reading.
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European Monetary Union and Exchange Rate Dynamics: New Approaches and Application to the Euro
Paul J.J. Welfens
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ASIN: 3540679146 |
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The creation of the European Central Bank and the Euro have brought new challenges to EU integration and economic policy. This book looks into issues of monetary and factor market policies. The analysis also presents new theoretical and empirical research on the - transitory - decline of the Euro. Issues of exchange rate policy and international economic relations also are addressed.
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Aid and Power: The World Bank and Policy-Based Lending : Analysis and Policy Proposals
Paul Mosley ,
Jane Harrigan , and
John Toye
Manufacturer: Routledge
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Development & Growth
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ASIN: 0415015480 |
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The first edition of Aid and Power has made one of the most significant and influential contributions within development circles. The global recession of the early 1980s prompted a revolution in aid policy. The major aid organizations, and the World Bank in particular, increasingly made aid payment conditional on changes in policy, generally of a type that reduced the level of government intervention in the economy. br br The second edition of Aid and Power: Volume One considers the impact this has had on the relationship between donor organizations and developing countries, concentrating on the delicate "bargaining" stage that was the focus of the aid process. It also examines whether policies which the World Bank has promoted have been a success. br br This updated edition has been revised to take into account the many developments since the books original publication in 1991, including changes in the Bank itself and the extension of policy based lending to the formerly socialist economies of East and Central Europe.
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The Group of Seven Finance Ministries, Central Banks and Global Financial Governance (Routledge/Warwick Studies in Globalisation)
Andrew Baker
Manufacturer: Routledge
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ASIN: 0415354927 |
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Globalisation is a phenomenon that has captured the imagination of both social scientists and the wider public. A recurring theme of 'globalisation' has been the seeming inability of governments to control financial forces.
This book goes right to the heart of this issue by looking at the collaboration between finance ministries and central banks from the major industrialised powers in the field of monetary and financial governance. It examines the so-called G7 process, its role and influence in modern economic life. It asks what the G7 process does, what influence it has and what constrains it? This book is a timely and scholarly study of the collaboration between G7 finance ministries and central banks over the last decade.
This book will be of strong interest to students and academics working in the fields of IR and IPE, particularly specialists in international financial and monetary relations.
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This ground-breaking best-seller reveals for the first time how the mighty and mysterious Federal Reserve operates -- and how it manipulated and transformed both the American economy and the world's during the last eight crucial years. Based on extensive interviews with all the major players, Secrets of the Temple takes us inside the government institution that is in some ways more secretive than the CIA and more powerful than the President or Congress.
Customer Reviews:
The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-02
"Secrets of the Temple" is a book that discusses the interaction of the Federal Reserve and Government economic policy. This book is basically a detailed analysis of the Reagan administration and the Volcker chairmanship of the Reserve.
Once again Mr. Greider teaches us how the "clock" works by taking us on an intimate tour through the internal mechanisms of the "clock". This is the hands on approach to learning. I like it. Mr. Greider takes us on a tour of the factory - from assembly to design and through sales and advertising.
This book is nearly 800 pages long. It's a bargain. If I had any negative criticism it would be that it contains too much information. But that seems to be Mr. Greider's style - no one is going to accuse him of not "doing his homework". This book is not a "read"; it is a "study".
An Extremely Liberal Critique of the Fed.......2007-08-05
This book is NOT an impartial, journalistic account of the way the Federal Reserve works. From the beginning Greider writes with a liberal agenda and it shows. It's amazing that he apparently does understand the basic precepts of economics, but chooses to ignore their implications with regard to policy making. Instead of seeing the logical reasons behind policy decisions, he immediately leaps to the conspiracy theory explanation for why the Fed has failed to enact the ultra-liberal polcy he prefers.
This book is 717 pages long -- about 400 of those pages are Greider's editorials on the Fed. When he does talk about the actual players in the story and uses quotes from the interviews, the book is pretty good. However, too much of the book is focused on Greider's opinions and not enough on representing the viewpoints of the Chairman, the main character in the story. I feel that had Greider included more quotes from Volker, that it would have completely destroyed his argument.
Please don't make this the first book you read about the Federal Reserve -- read something that gives you both sides of the issues of monetary policy. Once you understand the basics of central banking, you'll be able to sort out the useful, factual reporting from the useless editorials. The facts are worth having, just be prepared to read through a lot of fluff to get to it.
Useless.......2007-06-26
How can a reader understand the Federal Reserve without reading the history of it's creaton? It's critics, and the history of a central bank in America and Europe? They can't. Any book that does explain the history of international and national banking would never get a good review from the mainstream media. And all you have to do is look it up. Read some of the associated books listed along with this for the history behind the Federal Reserve, a private institution that has never been audited.
Buy, "How the world really works," for one example. The Federal Reserve is run by the same robber barrons our history books tell us turned to philanthropy. Nonsense. They make money on our 54 trillion in debt, are the same people who created the United Nations, Trilateral Commision and Council on Foreign Relations.
Now, why, you ask yourself, would standard oil and banking magnate JD Rockefellar, and JP Morgan want an international one world organization?
That is the question.You remember Rockefellars Standard Oil and how it was 'broken up.' Right. Into Exxon, Mobil, Texaco and Chevron.
The same Rockefellars that strangely enough fund nearly every left wing organization in this country. Why? Bankers don't care who runs the country as long as we spend a ton of money and borrow it from them.
They own both parties.
good information about what we don't know.......2007-02-18
This book has a lot of information we are not being told
No secrets here - just excellent propaganda.......2006-01-15
Quoting the first 2 sentences of the book:
"In the American system, citizens were taught that the transfer of political power accompanied elections, formal events when citizens made orderly choices about who shall govern. Very few Americans, therefore, understood that the transfer of power might also occur, more subtly, without elections."
Unfortunately, Greider is right about most Americans' stunning ignorance about how they're really governed, although one could argue that more and more people are waking up to the fact that all is not as it seems on the surface. So far, so good - but then, in the next paragraph, without mentioning the Federal Reserve by name, he says:
"It was part of the national government, yet deliberately set outside the electoral process, insulated from the control of mere politicians."
Good propaganda must be mostly truth to work. As I write, this book has a rating of 4 1/2 stars out of 5. This is an indication that the majority of reviewers have bought into the well spun propaganda Greider delivers.
The Federal Reserve is a 100% privately owned corporation, carefully set up to appear as though it is an arm of government. It was created solely for the benefit of it's shareholders, a significant proportion of which are foreign. Greider could have mentioned this extremely important fact at the outset. Instead he deliberately helps perpetuate the myth that "The Fed" is public.
He spends the rest of the 700+ pages going into excruciating detail about The Fed's decisions and their direct effects on the economy, with a focus on the time of Volcker's reign. If that's what you're looking for, this is the book for you. If you're looking for true insight into The Fed, its origins, who it benefits, and how it directly controls the largest economy in the world (and indirectly many other economies through their privately owned central banks) at the expense of everyone else, then I'd suggest reading "The Creature from Jekyll Island".
Why 1 star? I don't like propaganda deliberately designed to mislead people who are seeking truth about a subject which affects all of us. The few citizens that take the time to research a subject so important to all of us deserve better than to be distracted by true - but on the whole, irrelevant - information.
Book Description
This book tells a previously untold story of decades of financial speculation, fraud, and international conspiracy that led to the creation of the Panama Canal. The author meticulously details the dark alliance — among a French company; Teddy Roosevelt with his gunboat diplomacy; and a secretive syndicate of Wall Street financiers — that masterminded a coup in Colombia and the secession of Panama in 1903. Panama then welcomed the canal building, and the U.S. foreign policy precedent was set for the 20th century. How Wall Street Created a Nation includes historical photographs and is a fascinating telling of this scandalous true story.
Customer Reviews:
The creation of Panama by Wall Street........2004-05-19
As the previous reviewer noted about Senator Morgan from Lousiana, I also found a error in this book. It states some of the elections from Indiana and how Roosevelt and the Democrats suffered losses in this state. We are talking of the first Roosevelt and he was a Republican, and not a Democrat. Perhaps the author or one of the proof readers made a mistake, but it gets you thinking that if they do a poor job in the basics, perhaps the author made other errors. I don't think Diaz is stretching too far when he states the Administration, certain financial interests on Wall Street, and the French banks conspired to help Panamanians get their independence in exchange for making a favorable treaty with the American government.
This is a nice little book and the author makes some reasonable assertions about how Panama got its independence. Colombia had already lost Ecuador and Venezuela in the mid 1800s. Panama was not an intregal part of Colombia and the civil strife in Bogota was great. All it took was a little money (which the banks loaned) and the will of the Panamanian people, and Panama became independent. Diaz may think this clouds the reputation of Panama's founders, but I think it was inevitable what would happen to Panama.
Marred by Error.......2004-04-22
This book is not without error and at least one of them is significant because it involves a major player, Senator John Tyler Morgan.
In the verion I read, the author has Morgan as being from Louisiana. Tyler moved to Alabama from Tennessee as a very young child and was involved in that state's politics for more than 50 years, 30 of them as a Senator. Louisiana never sent anyone named Morgan to the Senate (and only one to the House).
The book reads well, but a sloppy error like that makes you want to backtrack a lot of other information.
A HISTORY BOOK THAT WILL MAKE HISTORY.......2003-11-17
There are few history books that will make history. This is one of those rare books. In only 300 pages, the author, a New York lawyer and a Panamanian, has shaken 100 years of history about how the United States gained the rights to build the Panama Canal and how his country gained its independence from Colombian on November 3, 1903 with a complex, eye-popping account that has caused a stir in his native country.
To introduce a fresh view at the beginnings of the U.S. presence in Panama is no small feat considering that there are several dozens books on the library shelves about it, including a National Book Award by famed writer David McCullough. What makes Diaz-Espino's book so compelling and a must read is the fact that its conclusions are entirely logical; every event that occurred during and after the revolution can be explained through the prism of the author's main thesis, something that previous books failed to do.
The author's main argument is that the secession of the republic of Panama from Colombia was planned, financed and executed under the direction of a group of Wall Street and French promoters, which included J.P. Morgan, lawyer William Nelson Cromwell, as well the heads of Citibank, Banker's Trust, and Credit Lyonnais, all of who had a lot to gain from ensuring that a Canal was built through Panama instead of Nicaragua. That is, money, and not President Theodore Roosevelt's "manifest destiny" to expand in Central America or Panamanian's desire for independence as people in Panama want to believe, led to the independence of the country 100 years ago.
To someone who functions in the modern world and studies how policy is made, it seems entirely plausible that a powerful lobby well connected with the Republican Party, a trans-continental economic elite, an impetuous American President, and an expanding superpower have the right credentials to liberate this tiny Central American country whose greatest asset has always been its strategic Isthmus in which to build a canal. However, the book has caused a violent debate in Panama, where traditions die hard.
Having been present at Panama's centennial celebration on November 3, 2003, I realized that the country is polarized between those who accept and those who reject the book's main argument. The former include young professionals who are suspicious of the "official version" which glorifies the founding fathers and leave no role for Americans, and who are hungry for a fact-based history made up of people with fear, greed, honor, and cowardice - people like us- which Diaz-Espino's book provides to them. The latter and more vociferous group include an unusual alliance between descendants and friends of the aristocratic founding fathers who want to cling to their past honors, and left-leaning university professors who find it hard to swallow after a century of Yankee bashing that they owe their independence to greedy American businessmen and Washington's geo-political agenda.
Not since the 1977 Panama Canal treaty was debated have Panamanians so fiercely re-examined their own history vis-à-vis the American occupation which lasted one century, all thanks to the convincing evidence presented in Diaz-Espino's book. Indeed, it is a sign of a great book to stir such a debate.
But Diaz-Espino's account is not only of value to Panamanians and the few Americans academics. By revealing the inner workings of how business elites gain influence and set the course of American foreign and military policy, the book is a must read for anyone interested in U.S. -Latin American relations and world politics today.
Christopher Carnoy
Independent Columnist
It was not only Wall Street.......2003-11-06
WAS PANAMA A MERE CREATION OF WALL STREET --O WAS ITS INDEPENDENCE THE EFFECT OF THREE POWERFUL FORCES?
by: Roberto N. Méndez (*)
Panamanian lawyer Ovidio Díaz-Espino's essay, "How Wall Street Created a Nation", whose Spanish version recently became available, informs us about a few, little-known but important, historical facts related to Panama's independence from Colombia, which happened on November 3, 1903. Un-fortunately, the essay's argument is simplistic, aside from the fact that it turns out to be contradictory and unoriginal.
The book's title, its Preface, its first chapter, and the author's own public statements, all align themselves with the "black legend" which surrounds Panama's independence.
According to it, Panama's independence from Colombia was conceived, promoted, financed and led by a group of New York bankers, headed by cunning lawyer William N. Cromwell, who acted in liaison with President Theodore Roosevelt.
Also according to the legend, Panama's founding fathers were little more than corrupt puppets, who merely followed Cromwell's instructions word for word, all in exchange for the classic handful of silver coins.
Such viewpoint is not only simplistic -it contradicts several historical sources and evidences, some of which, paradoxically, are mentioned by Díaz-Espino himself.
For one thing, it is well known that José A. Arango and other Panamanians started the conspiracy between June and July of 1903, at great personal risk. In other words, the separatist plot began spontaneously in Panama, and much before the Colombian Congress rejected the Herran-Hay Treaty, which occurred on August 12, 1903.
Only after the treaty was rejected did President Theodore Roosevelt began to lean in favour, not of Panama's independence, but of the odd thesis of American jurist John Basset Moore. According to Moore, the Mallarino-Bidlack Treaty of 1846 allowed to US to build a Canal through Panama, regardless of the wishes of the Colombian government.
Well-known historical documents testify to this fact. French investor Phil-lipe Bunau-Varilla provided one of them, in his book "From Panama to Verdun". Bunau-Varilla describes there how he met, in early October of 1903, with Roosevelt, and how he convinced the American President to abandon Moore's thesis, and to lend support to the separatist plot.
Surprisingly, Díaz-Espino mentions the meeting in his book, but he never realizes that it contradicts his essay's central thesis.
The essay's ending is no less of a surprise. On chapter 11, Díaz-Espino asserts that Panama's independence from Colombia was the joint result not of one, or two, but of three "powerful forces"; the first, Roosevelt's "ambi-tions" relative to the Canal; the second, Wall Street's "greed"; the third, Panamanians' "century-old aspiration to independence".
"Does not such a statement imply a contradiction vis a vis the essay's cen-tral argument?", Díaz-Espino was asked publicly in mid 2003, while visit-ing Panama on occasion of Panama's yearly Book Fair. As expected, the author was unable to offer a coherent answer.
In addition to that incongruence between central thesis and historical evi-dence, Díaz-Espino's essays suffers from a lack of originality, derived, ap-parently, from the author's unawareness about previous works on the sub-ject.
Indeed, Colombian journalist and historian Eduardo Lemaitre, whose work "Panama and its separation from Colombia", was published already in 1972, described the role that Cromwell and his group played in detail. And before Lemaitre, Colombian intellectual Oscar Teran, in his voluminous essay "From the Herran-Hay to the Hay-Bunau-Varilla treaty" (published in the thirties of last century) also divulged a large amount of information on the subject. What is more, Teran used the same sources that Díaz-Espino uses. It is therefore amazing that neither of these two previous and well-known works is even mentioned in Díaz-Espino's essay.
Yes, Ovidio Díaz-Espino's essay informs us of a few interesting and little known historical facts; unfortunately, his viewpoint is simplistic, contradic-tory, and lacking of originality. His purpose seems to be convincing us that Panama's independence was an episode characterized solely by the selfish-ness, corruption and cowardice of its participants. But in doing so Ovidio-Díaz contradicts himself, and seems to forget that all historical events are the result of interactions between positive and negative elements, which in one way or another contribute to the material and spiritual advancement of the people.
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(*) Roberto N Méndez (www.rnmendez.com) is a professor of economics at Panama's National University.
A book that tells you the real story.......2003-06-24
Being a Colombian, the explanations by local historians of how Panama was lost seems to be plagued with errors and gaps that mask the need to protect the image of certain Colombian leaders who are still described in elementary school history books as "patriots". In the case of Panama a similar situation occurs. The local Panamanian explanations exude heroic figures, intense fighting, tremendous leadership and planning skills, etc which are grossly exaggerated but appeal to local consumption. That is why this book allows for a small peek into some real history of how foreign decisions were made to build the canal, and how the locals played the cards that were dealt to them.
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The State After Communism: Administrative Transitions in Central and Eastern Europe (World Bank Regional and Sectoral Studies)
Barbara Nunberg ,
Luca Barbone , and
Hans-Ulrich Derlien
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Involuntary Resettlement Sourcebook: Planning and Implementation in Development Projects
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Book Description
Construction of infrastructure, a pre-requisite for sustained socioeconomic growth, often requires acquisition of land and, therefore, physical relocation and economic displacement of people. If such impacts, collectively characterized as involuntary resettlement, are not identified and adequately mitigated, some already vulnerable populations are likely to be further impoverished, thereby undermining development objectives.
Involuntary Resettlement Sourcebook clarifies many policy and technical issues that confront resettlement policymakers and practitioners. It provides guidance on resettlement design, implementation, and monitoring, and it discusses resettlement issues particular to development projects in different sectors.
The Sourcebook will be useful to a wide range of stakeholders. Its primary audience is resettlement practitioners, who have a role in the actual design, implementation, and evaluation of resettlement programs. The sourcebook will also be of interest to policymakers and project decision-makers.
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Construction of infrastructure, a pre-requisite for sustained socioeconomic growth, often requires acquisition of land and, therefore, physical relocation and economic displacement of people. If such impacts, collectively characterized as involuntary resettlement, are not identified and adequately mitigated, some already vulnerable populations are likely to be further impoverished, thereby undermining development objectives. Involuntary Resettlement Sourcebook clarifies many policy and technical issues that confront resettlement policymakers and practitioners. It provides guidance on resettlement design, implementation, and monitoring, and it discusses resettlement issues particular to development projects in different sectors. The Sourcebook will be useful to a wide range of stakeholders. Its primary audience is resettlement practitioners, who have a role in the actual design, implementation, and evaluation of resettlement programs. The sourcebook will also be of interest to policymakers and project decision-makers.
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