MONEY MATTERS

KEEPING AT IT, BY PAUL A VOLCKER, FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, IS A POWERFUL MEMOIR ABOUT HIS LIFE IN PUBLIC SERVICE

The title of Paul Volcker’s new book, Keeping At It: The Quest for Sound Money and Good Government, tells readers quite a bit about the material they’re about to consume. This is not a barnburner; rather, as the name quietly implies, it is a measured, even-handed review of a career largely spent in public service, including two terms as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Anyone expecting an explicit and full-throated rebuke of current political leadership in Washington or of President Trump, who has repeatedly attacked the Fed, will be disappointed: Volcker’s memoir essentially ends in 2013, with the formation of the Volcker Alliance, a nonpartisan group that aims to improve the eficiency of government.

Nor is Keeping At It, written with Bloomberg Markets editorin-chief Christine Harper, a salacious Washington tell-all. Volcker describes his gig as undersecretary of Treasury for monetary affairs for the Nixon White House as “the best job in the world,” but he gives little explanation for his voluntary departure in early 1974 except to say, “The Nixon administration was in turmoil, consumed with the Watergate scandal what was transixing the public.”

His time as Fed chairman during Jimmy Carter’s calamitous White House — Volcker’s tenure overlapped with the Iran hostage crisis, the 1979 oil shock, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and runaway inlation — is covered in less than a chapter.

But make no mistake, Volcker has much to say, and the absence of bomb-throwing gives his message added weight. This is no central banker crying wolf. When the 91-year-old economist decries the role private interests have played in eroding sound money and good government, he offers plenty of irst-hand evidence, from the savingsand-loan iasco of the 1980s and 1990s to the inancial crisis of 2008-09.

“The growth of money in politics is a major challenge to the democratic ideals we express,” he concludes.

At a time when Americans have become accustomed to incendiary tweets, hot takes and instant punditry, the author’s unhurried prose may seem quaint; the irst half of the book can feel downright wonky. But by detailing his considerable work in the ield, Volcker’s reproaches are that much more credible. He ultimately delivers a powerful message — readers just need to keep at it.