Volker looks back

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The Quest for Sound Money and Good GovernmentBy Paul Volcker (with Christine Harper)Public Affairs (£21.99)Buy on Amazon

Paul Volcker, the chairman of the Federal Reserve between 1979 and 1987, is widely credited with bringing the inflation of the late 1970s and early 1980s under control. He also played an important role in financial reform. His "Volcker Rule" banned banks from trading with their own money. In this book, Volcker looks back over his career. It is, however, much more than just an account of his life. It is his credo, says Martin Wolf in the Financial Times.

As Fed chair, Volcker "skilfully thwarted" journalists and Fed-watchers "by either refusing to speak, mumbling, or concocting incomprehensible responses", says Fortune's Alan Murray. After his retirement, Volcker "morphed into one of the world's most blunt-spoken truth-tellers, describing the world exactly as he saw it". His book continues that "good fight" and "deserves to be read".

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The book invites readers to reconsider his legacy, says The Economist. It reveals that, far from being the monetarist policy wonk of legend, Volcker actually "lacked strong intellectual commitments" and had "a surprisingly moralistic view of the economy", seeing central banking as "a test of character". This suggests that "it is the strength of Volcker's character that deserves emulation rather than his response to a specific, bygone set of economic circumstances".