William L. Silber on Volcker: The Triumph of Persistence

William L. Silber on <i>Volcker: The Triumph of Persistence</i>

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 | 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM

Join us for a talk, reception and book signing with William Silber on his recent biography of Paul Volcker.

About the Book
This book is two stories in one. On the surface it is the biography of a man, Paul Volcker, who served five Presidents while confronting the three greatest crises in American finance over the past half century: the break with gold in 1971, double digit inflation in 1979 and the world financial crisis that began in 2007. But on a deeper level it is about trust. Paul Volcker is the most trusted man in world finance, and he earned that trust by standing firm against political pressure during the 1980s while defeating an inflation that threatened to destroy the American financial system. Volcker’s obsession with inflation is based on promoting trust in government. We give the government the right to print money, and we trust the government not to abuse that right by inflating. And that is the underlying problem today. We need to trust the government that it will control the budget deficit so that it can repay its obligations without debasing the currency by inflating.

About William Silber
William L. Silber is the Marcus Nadler Professor of Finance and Economics and Director, Glucksman Institute for Research in Securities Markets, at the Stern School of Business, New York University. He is also a member of the New York Mercantile Exchange, where he has traded options and futures contracts. In the past he managed an investment portfolio for Odyssey Partners, and has also been a Senior Vice President, Trading Strategy, at Lehman Brothers, a Senior Economist with the President's Council of Economic Advisors, a member of the Economic Advisory Panel of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and a member of the investment committee of the SSRC endowment fund. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University and is a graduate of Yeshiva College. Mr. Silber has published over 50 articles in professional journals, has been an Associate Editor of the Journal of Finance and of the Review of Economics and Statistics, and has written or edited more than a dozen books and monographs.

Presentation will be followed by Q&A, book signing and reception. Reservations required. Admission is free for Museum members, or $15 for non-members. For additional information, please contact Tempris Small at 212-908-4110 or tsmall@moaf.org.

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