Washoe County Library System

The real estate magnate and reality television star lays out his plan for what America needs to do to get back on track, discussing how to create jobs, eliminate debt, and reform the tax code.

"There have been two global financial crises in the past century: the Great Depression of the 1930s and the Great Recession that began in 2008. Both featured loose credit, precarious real estate and stock market bubbles, suspicious banking practices, an inflexible monetary system, and global imbalances; both had devastating economic consequences. In both cases, people in the prosperous decade preceding the crash believed they were living in a post-volatility...

Politicians today in both Europe and the United States have succeeded in casting government spending as reckless wastefulness that has made the economy worse. In contrast, they have advanced a policy of draconian budget cuts--austerity--to solve the financial crisis. We are told that we have all lived beyond our means and now need to tighten our belts. This view conveniently forgets where all that debt came from. Not from an orgy of government spending,...

"As chairman of the Federal Reserve (1979-1987), Paul Volcker slayed the inflation dragon that was consuming the American economy and restored the world's faith in central bankers. That extraordinary feat was just one pivotal episode in a decades-long career serving six presidents. His insight into world-changing events such as the end of the Bretton Woods system, the closing of the 'gold window,' and the financial crisis of 2008 provide enduring...

"On the 10th anniversary of the 2008 financial crisis, one of the world's most successful investors, Ray Dalio, shares his unique template for how debt crises work and principles for dealing with them well. This template allowed his firm, Bridgewater Associates, to anticipate events and navigate them well while others struggled badly. As he explained in his #1 New York Times Bestseller, Principles: Life & Work, Dalio believes that most everything...

"Owen Ullmann's intimate portrait of the heart and mind of Janet Yellen is the riveting story of one of the most remarkable careers of recent times. The ultimate glass-ceiling buster, Yellen is the first person to hold all three of America's top economic policy positions: Treasury Secretary (the first woman to hold the job), chair of the Federal Reserve and of the President's Council of Economic Advisers. Yellen's sheer brilliance was certainly foundational,...

The Secretary of the Treasury during the final years of George W. Bush's presidency presents his side of the economic collapse that occurred in the waning days of his watch over America's banking system.