Review ofAllanH.Meltzer’s A historyoftheFederalReserve, Volume 2, UniversityofChicagoPress,2009

This isareviewofAllanMeltzer’s‘‘AHistoryoftheFederalReserve,Volume2.’’By carefullyreviewingthousandsoftranscriptsandrecords,Meltzer’shistoryletspolicy makersexplaintheirdecisionsintheirownwords,andcreativelyweaveshistorical eventsintoasingleexceptionallyclearstoryashedidinVolume1.InthisreviewIfirst examinethebook’smaintheme—that discretionarymonetarypolicyfailedintheGreat Depression(1929–1933),intheGreatInflation(1965–1980),andintherecentGreat Recession(2007–2009)—and thenconsideritsmainconclusion—that monetarypolicy shouldbebasedonlessdiscretionandmorerule-likebehavior