January 15, 2004 Issue
...When we interpret the Nineties, (click here) it is natural for us to rely on histories written by economists who witnessed the events firsthand. Two books that will serve as excellent sources for this period are The Fabulous Decade, a careful analysis of national economic policy first published in 2001 by Alan Blinder and Janet Yellen, and The Roaring Nineties, a comprehensive review of the last decade by Joseph Stiglitz.
All three authors are distinguished academic economists who worked in different government agencies during the 1990s. Alan Blinder served in President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) in 1993 and 1994; he then became a governor and vice-chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1994 until 1996, when he returned to Princeton University. Janet Yellen was a governor of the Federal Reserve from 1994 until 1997, and she then served as chair of the CEA from 1997 to 1999; she is now at the University of California at Berkeley....
